Ag Student Receives National Scholarship

Utah State University Agricultural Systems Technology and Education student Jarrod Jackson is the recipient of a 2005 Mobil Delvac Agricultural Scholarship. Jackson won the competition’s photography category with his submission, “Capturing the Power, Past and Present.”

 

“The winners of this year’s (scholarships) shined with their tremendous knowledge and passion for agriculture,” said Vernon Solis, ExxonMobil marketing advisor, in a release issued last month by ExxonMobil Corporation, parent company of Mobil Delvac. “We are proud to honor these exceptional students and assist them with their studies … and look forward to the contributions that each of these students may make to the agricultural industry.”

 

Jackson received a $4,000 scholarship for his winning entry. He was the sole winner in the photography category. Two other students were awarded scholarships in the essay category.

 

Jackson, a senior who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in May, said a scene he observed at USU’s American West Heritage Center’s Jensen Historical Farm inspired his winning entry.

 

“I was driving to school and noticed (farm workers) disking with both draft horses and a tractor,” he says. “I thought it was an interesting contrast.”

 

Disking, explains Jackson, involves the use of a disk harrow implement after plowing to break clods of soil into finer pieces and level the ridges left by the plow. The tools were traditionally drawn by horses. Today, tractors are generally used to pull the heavy implements through fields.

 

A self-taught photography buff, Jackson enlisted the help of his mentor and supervisor, John Wallentine, manager of USU’s Caine Dairy, in staging the perfect shot. Using Wallentine’s horses and a shiny blue New Holland tractor, the duo rose in the wee hours of a spring morning (their usual routine, as farmers) to capture the perfect photo.

 

“I wanted to get the morning light on the Wellsvilles,” says Jackson, who uses a Nikon D70 SLR camera for his artistic creations.

 

He says both he and wife, Liz, have enjoyed amateur photography as a hobby for about the past three years. Their favorite subjects are landscapes, farmscapes and vintage farm equipment, as well as their two young children.

 

Jackson included the following artist’s statement with his winning submission:

 

“One cannot compare the past and the present; only capture their differences. Before the industrial revolution, all the farmer had was a team of horses, a disk and a dusty old hat. Now, in the twenty-first century, we find ourselves with a different level of horsepower, modern satellite technology and larger implements. These enable the progressive farmer to cultivate his acreage in a much more efficient and economical way; making it possible to provide the food and products needed around the world. It is important, however, to remember the richness and simplicity of our former heritage.”