FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is committed to investing in its youth, and is proud to annually present scholarships to several students pursuing higher education across the cooperative's membership.
Since 2013, FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative has provided $226,000 to more than 240 students. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative strongly believes in the value of equipping future dairy farmers and agriculturists with the lifelong skills and valuable tools to lead a successful career within the agriculture industry.
Much of the funding for our scholarship program is made possible thanks to the late Bill Walters, a great advocate for the dairy industry and a beloved radio personality in northeast Wisconsin. A big man with a soft heart, Bill's passion was interviewing the area's dairy farm families who were the backbone of the industry. Bill firmly believed these farm families instilled the best life values into young people and that there was no better place to raise children. With that in mind, Bill left a major gift from his estate to the Manitowoc Milk Producers Cooperative (now part of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative) and to their families, their sons and daughters, to further their education. It was Bill's hope that they too would return to the family farm or take up a career in the industry and continue to build strong rural communities. It is an honor to be awarded this scholarship in his name. The National Dairy Shrine manages the Bill Walters fund.
FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative is also part of the Federated Youth Foundation (FYF), a Wisconsin nonprofit organization, exempt from federal taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Federated Youth Foundation is a vehicle for receiving unclaimed property, gifts, and donations from individuals and cooperatives, credit unions, and mutual insurance companies. Proceeds from the cooperative's silent and live auctions at the annual meeting are put in the FYF fund.
These partnerships ensure the scholarship program will continue long into the future, supporting many more students pursuing higher education.
Click here for the 2024 Scholarship Application Forms
The scholarship program is open to students pursuing degrees in any field from a college or university or technical or community college.
Students completing an application are required to:
- Answer essay questions, which are unique to each year
- Provide their most recent transcripts (high school or college)
- Submit a digital photo to be used for publication purposes
- Submit two letters of recommendation (which can be mailed/e-mailed separately)
- Provide confirmation of acceptance into post-secondary school (only high school students)
If you have any questions, please contact the office at 608-244-3373 or email info@farmfirstcoop.com.
The Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. (WDPA) is proud to once again offer the Robert L. Bradley Scholarship, and the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association Scholarship. Both scholarships will be worth $2,000 each.
To be eligible for the WDPA scholarship, students must be attending a University of Wisconsin school, and be pursuing a degree in Food Science, Dairy Science or a dairy industry related program. Eligible students can either be a graduating high school senior or currently attending a post-secondary school program; grad students are not eligible to apply. Applications are due at the end of March. See more information by following the button below.
