“Now that we have the client, how will we impress them?” Those were the words of my friend, client, and business partner, Bob Tallman, the Hall of Fame Rodeo Announcer, after we secured the right to represent AgTexas Farm Credit, the $3.7 billion Lubbock-based Ag lender.
We knew the direction and storyline for our TV and radio campaigns featuring Bob. The overarching question remained: How can we build a more robust connection with the Ag community? How could we demonstrate that we passionately cared? That we lived and breathed Ag? That we understood our customers, their families, and their communities? Bob and I brainstormed and eventually applied a twist to an existing concept that honors a scholar-athlete each week. We asked, “What if we created a similar program that honors graduating high school seniors involved with 4-H and FFA?”
For non-Ag folks, 4-H is an Ag program that serves students from ages 8 to 18, so from third grade through high school, with the platform managed by the Texas A&M AgriLife program and each community’s County Extension Office. FFA is the Future Farmers of America program, which is administered at the school level for students ages 8 to 21. Interested students from third grade through college participate. The timing was perfect. Twelve years ago, AgTexas was merging with Amarillo-based Great Plains Ag Credit, and they needed something that would bring the two organizations together.
Farm credit operations are cooperatives, which are owned by their members rather than a corporate entity. We call them member-owners, and they share in the profitable operations of AgTexas. When we proposed the AgYouth of the Month Scholarship Program to their leadership, the CEO of AgTexas excitedly proclaimed, “You get who we are. We love this idea!”
On Monday, April 27, AgTexas completed its trifecta of AgYouth Scholarship banquets by hosting its Central Texas event at River View Ranch in Granbury. That evening saw $23,500 awarded among 14 graduating high school students, a college student, and an FFA advisor. Combined with the April 14 AgYouth Scholarship banquet in Canyon ($17,000 awarded) and the April 16 AgYouth Scholarship banquet in Lubbock ($28,000 awarded), the program awarded $68,500.
At Granbury’s banquet, 14 graduating high school seniors each received a $1,000 scholarship: students from Blooming Grove FFA, Brock FFA, Brown County 4-H, Brownwood FFA, Cen-Tex 4-H, Corsicana FFA, Dawson FFA, Erath County 4-H, Glen Rose 4-H, Glen Rose FFA, Grandview FFA, Navarro County 4-H, Rio Vista FFA, and Stephenville FFA.
The Outstanding Adult Leader Award, who received a $1,000 check plus an additional $1,000 for his FFA Chapter, was Mr. Wacey Horton, FFA Advisor from Weatherford FFA. The recipient of the AgYouth Alumni Scholarship was Ali Cox, a previous AgYouth Scholarship recipient from Paradise FFA, who received a $7,500 award. She is studying Ag Sciences at Tarleton State University.
Before this year, the AgYouth of the Month scholarship program had awarded $224,000. This year’s awards consisted of:
- $40,000 in scholarships for selected graduating high school seniors involved in 4-H and FFA (40 at $1,000 each)
- $22,500 for Distinguished Alumni AgYouth Scholarships for students (3 at $7,500 each) already in college
- $6,000 awards to an outstanding 4-H or FFA leader in each of the three regions AgTexas serves ($1,000 for each honoree, plus $1,000 for their chapter) in the Amarillo, Lubbock, and Central Texas regions The program has now provided $292,500, and it continues to expand its impact every year.
Further confirming the cooperative’s commitment to youth leaders, this past fall AgTexas also supported the 12 area FFA chapters competing at the National FFA convention by covering $2,000 in travel expenses per chapter. – $24,000 total. According to AgTexas President/CEO Kayla Robinson, “Providing recognition and scholarships for outstanding students interested in agriculture is one of the most effective ways to encourage our best and brightest youths to join our mission of helping feed and clothe the world.” Robinson continues, “We love the excitement of celebrating with energetic 4-H and FFA students because they bring such positivity into the room. Graduation season will be a special time in their lives, and we enjoy hearing about their hopes and dreams.”
About AgTexas Farm Credit Services: AgTexas is a rural lending cooperative, providing financing for real estate and operating capital, as well as insurance, leasing, and cash management services for the Ag industry since 1934. Today, AgTexas serves approximately 3,500 members across 43 counties through 11 offices, including those in Burleson, Hillsboro, and Stephenville. In Central Texas, AgTexas serves the following counties: Brown, Comanche, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Navarro, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise.
