The Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation has $18,000 in scholarships available to Ohio students from rural, suburban and urban communities who are pursuing degrees connected in some way to agriculture.

A total of 12 $1,500 scholarships will be awarded through four programs: Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation Scholar, Women’s Leadership in Agriculture Scholarship Program, Darwin Bryan Scholarship Fund and Cindy Hollingshead Scholarship Fund. All require letters of recommendation, an essay, school transcripts and photos.

Apply online at ofbf.org/foundation. Deadline is Feb. 29.

“These scholarships help reduce the burden on the students who will be our future leaders and who will contribute to Ohio’s agricultural industry,” said Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation Executive Director Shawn Cleveland.

The Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation Scholar award recognizes students for academic effort, community service and career interests that use agriculture to enhance the partnership between producers and consumers in rural, suburban and/or urban settings.

The foundation’s Women’s Leadership in Agriculture Scholarship Program is awarded to applicants who may not be majoring in agriculture directly, but who must explain how their chosen career field will benefit a field related to agriculture or community development such as food production, scientific research, education/outreach, marketing, policymaking, advocacy or leadership development. The program was established by an endowment from the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee.

The Darwin Bryan Scholarship Fund was established in 1985 in honor of Darwin R. Bryan whose enthusiastic leadership during his 37 years of service to Ohio Farm Bureau has been an inspiration to rural youths throughout Ohio. The scholarship fund assists students who have been active in the Farm Bureau youth program and/or whose parents are Farm Bureau members.

The Cindy Hollingshead Scholarship Fund was established in 2011 to honor Cynthia Anne (Cindy) Hollingshead for her 39 years of service as executive secretary of Ohio Farm Bureau, as well as a lifetime of volunteer commitment to local government and community service activities. The objective of the Scholarship Fund is to assist students who plan to pursue careers focusing on agriculture, community service or association leadership.