Encourage your soon-to-be college students to take advantage of their holiday break by spending some time to apply for a $1,000 scholarship from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

In 2016, the Iowa Farm Bureau will award 54 $1,000 scholarships to students pursuing a two- or four-year undergraduate degree. Six winners will be selected in each of the nine Iowa Farm Bureau Federation districts.

Students are eligible to renew the scholarships for up to four years by maintaining a minimum grade point average of 2.5 and by being a student in good standing with the college and university.

To be eligible for a scholarship, students must be sons or daughters of Iowa Farm Bureau members. Applicants must apply in the county where their Farm Bureau membership is held.

Applicants must be a high school graduate or have an expected high school graduation date of spring 2016. College freshmen, sophomores or juniors in a two- or four-year accredited college or university are also eligible to apply.

In addition, applicants must be working toward a degree in one of the following agriculture, health, education or conservation fields: ag production, including veterinary science; ag products and processing, including food or nutritional sciences; ag business; agricultural research; conservation and natural resources; agricultural economics; education (ag education and/or elementary and secondary teachers only); environmental systems, such as mechanical engineering or wind turbine energy; forestry; horticulture; mechanization; and nursing, for applicants who will work with clients in rural communities.

Scholarship applications must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2016. Please send the completed application to your county Farm Bureau office. Applications are here. Contact your county Farm Bureau office if you have questions.