Two Bay of Plenty and one Waikato student are among the recipients of the 2014 Ballance Agri-Nutrients scholarships.

Scholarships winners are Ryan Hathaway from Reporoa, Matthew Hughes from Rotorua.

The other two students, are from Ohakune and Mossburn and each of the five receives scholarships worth $4000 a year for a maximum of three years.

All are studying degrees relevant to the primary industry sector.

Scholarships winners are Ryan Hathaway from Reporoa, Matthew Hughes from Rotorua, Holly Flay from Te Awamutu, Peter Thomas from Mossburn and Sarah Greenwood from Ohakune.

Warwick Catto, Research and Development Manager at Ballance Agri-Nutrients, says the calibre of this year's applicants was again of a very high standard and shows that the industry's future is in safe hands.

'Our primary sector leads the world and we need to continue to attract top talent to keep us there. We have some outstanding young people ready to make their mark and we're right behind them,” says Warwick.

Ballance has now awarded more than 60 scholarships since it started the programme. Scholarships are open to family members of Ballance shareholders or shareholders of an entity (and beneficiaries of that shareholding) with shares in Ballance, as well as family members of company employees.

Sarah Greenwood from Ohakune.

Peter Thomas from Mossburn.

Holly Flay from Te Awamutu.