The Smithfield-Luter Foundation recently donated $250,000 to the University of Missouri to benefit students in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR).

From the $250,000 donation, $150,000 will endow a scholarship fund for new veterinary medicine students. The remainder of the donation will establish an endowed fund for graduate student fellowships in Agricultural Economics in CAFNR.

"Graduate students in the Department of Agricultural Economics have the opportunity to work with leading scholars engaged in a diverse range of research projects that develop new knowledge about state, national and international economic issues relating to agriculture," said CAFNR Dean Thomas Payne. "The fellowships provided by the Smithfield Foods, Inc. gift create competitive stipends that will help attract the best and brightest students to the graduate program."

Smithfield agreed to make the gift to the university last May after the company acquired Premium Standards Farms, the largest pork producer in the state at the time. The company now has a significant presence in Missouri, including the Farmland corporate headquarters and a number of hog farms.

"Smithfield Foods recognizes the rising cost to recruit and retain high-quality graduate students, and that there is a tremendous need for well-trained veterinarians to serve the agriculture industry," said Dennis Treacy, executive director of the Smithfield-Luter Foundation. "We hope that our contribution to these fine colleges at MU will make it possible for them to attract the best students."

The endowed scholarships will be known as the "Smithfield Foods Scholarship in Veterinary Medicine" and the "Smithfield Foods Graduate Fellowship in Agriculture Economics."