Future Ag Leaders Scholarship Program

The Iowa Select Farms Future Ag Leaders Scholarship Program is designed to provide annual scholarships to college students who are dependents of Iowa Select Farms employees and contractors and are pursuing higher education. The scholarships under this Program and other opportunities for students provided by Iowa Select Farms help support and further our commitment to our families and to developing the next generation of leaders.

You can find the application for the Future Ag Leaders Scholarship Program at the bottom of this page. Applications are due by April 15, 2024.

While preference will be given to students who are dependents of employees and are pursuing a degree in agriculture, a portion of the scholarship funds are earmarked for students who fall outside of this criteria. Please see “Student Eligibility” section below.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY
Scholarships under the Program are available to students meeting the following requirements:
• Student is a child or dependent of a part-time, active employee or a full-time, active employee of Iowa Select Farms, LLP.
• Student is a child or dependent of a contracted site manager or contract grower.
• Student is a part-time employee or contractor for Iowa Select Farms.
• Student is enrolled (or plans to enroll) full-time at an accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the state of Iowa.
• While all degrees are eligible, preference will be given to students pursuing (or planning to pursue) a degree in agriculture, including, but not limited to a degree in animal science, agronomy, ag studies, ag business, ag education, ag systems technology, ag engineering, or ag communications.
• Student maintains a minimum GPA of 2.8 (determined on a semester-by-semester basis).

If a student unenrolls in a qualifying educational program after receiving a scholarship or fails to maintain the required GPA during each semester during a year for which the student received a scholarship, the student will not be eligible for a scholarship in future years. If a prior year recipient no longer meets the eligibility requirements due to death, disability, or retirement of a parent or guardian who was previously employed or contracted by Iowa Select Farms, Iowa Select Farms may, in its sole discretion, continue to award scholarships to the recipient for the remainder of the recipient’s enrollment in a qualifying institution (assuming that the recipient otherwise continues to meet the eligibility criteria under the Program).

APPLICATION PROCESS
The application will request, among other information deemed reasonably necessary by Iowa Select Farms, the following:

• Transcript showing the student’s GPA for the prior year.
• 300–400-word essay describing the student’s academic and career goals, including:
  • What has inspired you to pursue a career in agriculture?
  • What are your future career goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?
  • What extracurricular and volunteer activities (both on- and off-campus) do you perform or expect to perform?

The Iowa Select Farms Scholarship Committee will review all complete applications submitted by the application due date and make award decisions based on the criteria listed above. Iowa Select Farms will make annual awards up to $2,500 per student. Iowa Select Farms will notify applicants of award decisions no later than May 15 of each year. Students seeking scholarships for multiple years must reapply for a scholarship on an annual basis. No student may not receive more than $6,000 total over the course of the student’s college enrollment.

PAYMENT
Each annual scholarship will be allocated equally between fall and spring semesters unless the applicant requests an exception and Iowa Select Farms, in its sole discretion, agrees to grant such exception. Iowa Select Farms will issue scholarship checks directly to the educational institution attended by the recipient and designated in the recipient’s application.

SUBSTANTIATION
Upon completion of each semester for which a student receives a scholarship under the Program, the student must provide documentation that the student has completed coursework associated with full-time enrollment and maintained a GPA of at least 2.8.