By Julie Tomascik
Editor

Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) announced the organization’s 2024 scholarship recipients, awarding $532,000 to graduating high school seniors and enrolled college students.

The total includes an additional $297,000 awarded this year.

“The future of Texas and agriculture lies in the hands of the next generation who are making decisions about college and trade school,” TFB President Russell Boening said. “Expanding the scholarship program allows us to help more students who are pursuing degrees at a university, trade school, in agricultural education and in rural veterinary medicine.”

Scholarships for enrolled college students
TFB increased the amounts for several enrolled college student scholarships, including the S.M. True Jr. Agricultural Scholar Award, Rural Veterinary Scholarship, Mia Balko Student Teaching Scholarship, the Young Farmer & Rancher High School and Enrolled College Students scholarships and scholarships awarded through Texas State Technical College (TSTC).

The organization also added new scholarships this year, naming four finalists in the S.M. True Jr. Agricultural Scholar Award and Rural Veterinary Scholarship.

The winner of the 2024 S.M. True Jr. Agricultural Scholar Award is Luke Bludau of Lavaca County. He is a student at Texas A&M and received the $25,000 scholarship.

The four finalists are: A.J. Kendrick, Bryson Stone, Caden Carver and Reed Thorn. All attend Texas A&M University and received a $5,000 scholarship.

The Rural Veterinary Scholarship recipients are Kagen Burkett, Tyler Grahmann, Aubrie Fields and Rhett Payne. The recipients attend Texas Tech University, and each received a $20,000 scholarship.

The four finalists each received a $2,500 scholarship. They are: Ashley Ivy, Park Phillips and Shelby Currie of Texas A&M University and Jenna Roth of Texas Tech University.

The Texas Success Scholarship awarded through TSTC was increased to 70 $1,000 scholarships awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Three Young Farmer & Rancher Enrolled College Student Scholarships were awarded $2,500 scholarships, and four additional college students received the $6,000 spring Mia Balko Student Teaching Scholarship, which will assist recipients with expenses associated with off-campus student teaching. Another four college students also will be awarded the student teaching scholarship in the fall semester.

High school scholarships
High school scholarship amounts were also increased for the district memorial and honorary scholarships, as well as the Young Farmer & Rancher scholarship.

“This year’s scholarship recipients are an outstanding group, and Farm Bureau is proud to invest in their future and the future of Texas agriculture,” Boening said.

Thirteen graduating seniors were awarded Young Farmer & Rancher scholarships valued at $1,500.

One student who attended the 2023 Thrive Conference through TFB’s Student Success Series received the Dick Mitchell Memorial Scholarship valued at $1,000.

Thirteen seniors were awarded district memorial and honorary scholarships. In each of the 13 TFB districts, one student was awarded a $5,000 scholarship, and three students from each district were awarded a $3,000 scholarship.

A total of 39 high school seniors received district scholarships.

Additional scholarships
In addition, TFB awards $45,000 in scholarships to high school students through FCCLA, Texas 4-H and Texas FFA, as well as $1,500 through the Texas Rural Education Association Scholarship.

The winners of TFB’s AgVentures Challenge were awarded $24,000 in scholarships. To be eligible to participate in the challenge, students had to attend TFB’s 2023 Thrive Conference.

Scholarship recipient list
The full list of scholarship recipients is available here.

For more information about TFB scholarships, visit texasfarmbureau.org/scholarships.