11-18 IAN Dairy Scholars

 Idaho dairy producers double scholarship plans to help 15 students pursue their dreams. With education costs skyrocketing, an overwhelming number of dairy youth apply for scholarship assistance. When the dairy producer leaders of the United Dairymen of Idaho and its two branches – the Idaho Dairy Products Commission and the Idaho Dairymen’s Association – agreed to establish a scholarship program this year, they intended to award $1,500 scholarships to seven deserving students of Idaho dairy farm families. An overwhelming response, however, changed all that and immediately raised the bar.

Mike Roth, president of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association and dairy producer from Jerome, Idaho said “there were so many qualified applicants from local dairy farm families that the Scholarship Selection Committee just couldn’t turn them away. With the rising cost of college and the past few years of economic tough conditions on dairy farms, even a smaller scholarship like this helps to underwrite the cost of books and classes. Any kind of funding has become extremely important to our kids and families.”

Bob Naerebout, Executive Director of the Idaho Dairymens Association had this to say: “We think that not only kids in dairy farms but kids who are in agriculture overall are great students and  deserve to be recipients of scholarships such as this.”