Nearly $50,000 of agriculture scholarships and rural community improvement grants will be awarded to central and southern Illinois youth later this spring.

The Farm Credit Illinois agricultural lending cooperative announced plans to present twenty-two $1,500 scholarships to college-bound high school seniors who are pursuing an agriculture-related curriculum and award as many as sixty $250 grants to 4H clubs and FFA chapters to implement an improvement project within their local community.
Scholarship selections are based on a combination of academic achievement, participation and leadership in school and community organizations, and the applicant’s commitment 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 2015 semester with the pursuit of an agriculture-related academic major and career. Applicants must reside in – or their family must farm in – one of the sixty southern counties in Illinois served by Farm Credit Illinois.

Online applications for the scholarships and grants are available at www.farmcreditIL.com. The deadline for both applications is February 27, 2015.