New full-time students are being invited to write a 1,000-word essay on one of three topics involving their future career, farming interests or the barriers facing young people entering the industry for the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) annual £1,000 bursary award, which was launched yesterday.

The topics are:

* How I intend to utilise the skills I gain from my course in my future career.

* Outline your interest in a particular topic or project associated with the land-based industries.

* What do you think are the main barriers facing young people entering the land-based industries today?

Last year the adjudicators awarded £700 to the bursary winner, 19-year-old Harper Adams University College student Phillippa Maidment. Phillippa, a keen member of her local young farmers' club, but with no direct link to farming, received her award from then FUW president Gareth Vaughan on the union's stand at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair last December.

Full details on how to apply for the bursary are included in a leaflet available from the FUW's head office in Aberystwyth (Tel: 01970 820820) or at any of the union's county branch offices.

The closing date for entries is October 1, 2011.