The Next A.C.R.E. grant will fund a range of agriculture education program needs, including help several programs restore greenhouses damaged by storms this year. “We’ve built a program that offers opportunities for community gathering and advocacy for agriculture. We have an obligation as agriculturists to bring knowledge to those unknowing, making our area more rounded about an industry that is a necessity to the world,” one recipient recounted. Photo credit: Compeer Financial.
Nearly 70 middle and high schools received $446,318 in grants from Compeer Financial to support agricultural education programs. The Next A.C.R.E. grant, part of the Compeer Giving program, awarded up to $7,500 to each recipient school, with 21 Illinois, 21 Minnesota and 27 Wisconsin schools receiving a grant. Funds are used for equipment and resources that advance hands-on learning and support renovations, improvements and building projects for nontraditional classrooms, such as greenhouses, shops and livestock barns.
Through the Next A.C.R.E. grant, Compeer Financial aims to support agriculture programs in secondary schools, where they have been making an impact since 1832, when the Boston Asylum and Farm School was established. Over the past couple of decades, though, agricultural education has faced challenges that include a lack of qualified instructors, unfilled positions, low enrollment and a lack of funding. These and other factors have resulted in programs not keeping pace with technological advancements and even some programs being cut.
“With the Next A.C.R.E. grant, Compeer Financial intends to help ag education programs keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving agricultural landscape and give students the opportunity to elevate their agricultural knowledge and skills,” said Karen Schieler, manager of Compeer Giving at Compeer Financial. “Advancements in technology across ag sectors make it important to provide middle and high school students with equipment and resources that accurately represent the opportunities available within an industry that feeds, fuels and clothes us all. We hope this funding inspires students to pursue a career in agriculture where they can make a lasting impact on their local communities and the world.”
Grant recipients intend to use the funds across both traditional agricultural skills and emerging technologies to support a broad range of agriculture and career-focused education. In their applications, they emphasized hands-on, experiential learning that gives students opportunities to work with animals, grow, build, repair, test and fabricate. Several schools intend to use the funding to adopt advanced technology and simulation, including virtual welding, CNC plasma, precision agriculture sensors and veterinary and livestock simulators.
To qualify for a Next A.C.R.E. grant, applicants must offer agricultural education classes at a middle or high school within Compeer Financial’s 144-county territory. Compeer Financial will again offer the grant in 2027.