USA Rice Federation is conducting a National Rice Month (NRM) scholarship contest, sponsored by Dow AgroSciences. High school seniors in the 2012-13 school year from rice-growing counties in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas are eligible to apply.

To qualify to win a USA Rice National Rice Month Scholarship, students must conduct a promotion activity in their local community during September with U.S.-grown rice as the central theme. Entries must provide details of the promotion and should be submitted by Oct. 12. USA Rice encourages students to invest some of their summer vacation time in planning an innovative rice promotion campaign for a chance to win a scholarship.

Three scholarship prizes totaling $8,500 are available. The grand prize is a $4,000 scholarship and a trip to the 2012 USA Rice Outlook Conference in Coronado, California, for the scholarship presentation. The second-place winner will receive $3,000 and third-place, $1,500.

September is National Rice Month -- a time for America to salute its rice farmers and everyone involved in the U.S. rice industry. NRM was initiated by an act of Congress in 1991 and is conducted by the USA Rice Federation.

For more information and a scholarship contest entry form, see here.