FARM CREDIT OFFERING $1,000 COLLEGE AGRICULTURE SCHOLARSHIPS

Each year more than $20,000 of scholarship funds is awarded to college-bound high school seniors who are pursuing agriculture-related curriculum and careers. In 2012, Farm Credit Services of Illinois plans to present twenty-five $1,000 Agriculture Scholarships to current high school seniors.

Twenty of the 2011 Farm Credit Agriculture Scholarship recipients participate in the Scholarship Recognition Luncheon at Farm Credit’s corporate office in Mahomet.

“Farm Credit is proud to invest in young people who have a passion for agriculture. We need some of the brightest of today’s youth to become tomorrow’s agricultural leaders,” says Dave Owens, Farm Credit Services of Illinois President & C.E.O. “The Agriculture Scholarship program promotes the positive opportunities of exploring careers in the agriculture industry – including production agriculture.” Scholarship selections are based on a combination of academic achievement, participation and leadership in school and community organizations, and the applicant’s commitment level to an agricultural career.

To be eligible, scholarship applicants must be high school seniors who plan to enroll in a college or university during the fall 2012 semester and who will be pursuing an agriculture-related academic major or career. Applicants must reside in one of the sixty southern counties in Illinois served by Farm Credit Services of Illinois. The scholarship application deadline is March 2, 2012.

Applications for the Agriculture Scholarships are available online at http://www.fcsillinois.com/scholarships2012_announced.html.  Questions can be sent to info@fcsillinois.com.

This is the ninth year of the Farm Credit Agriculture Scholarship program. More than $135,000 of college scholarships has been awarded by Farm Credit to 161 different Agriculture Scholars since 2004.

Farm Credit Services of Illinois is a farmer owned and directed agricultural lending cooperative with $2.6 billion of assets. They provide competitive farm financing and deliver crop insurance expertise to over 8,000 farm families, agribusinesses, and rural landowners in the southern 60 counties of Illinois. The mission of the U.S. Farm Credit System is to provide financial capital and financial services to agriculture and Rural America.