Boyd and Joan Wallbrown Agricultural Innovation Scholarship

The Boyd and Joan Wallbrown Agriculture-Innovation Scholarship is awarded annually to a person or persons choosing to pursue their education leading to a career in agricultural production, crop production or livestock/farm animals.

History

In 1959, at the age of 29, Boyd Wallbrown Jr. and his wife Joan purchased a 93-acre farm in Deerfield, Ohio. Starting with nothing but the land and youthful ambition, Boyd and Joan began their journey by raising hogs and corn. Boyd was innovative, willing to take risks, and willing to sail into the uncharted waters of cutting-edge agricultural methods and technologies. He embraced progressive concepts such as no-till planting, liquid fertilizers, and steel bins for grain storage. In the 1960’s, he took the next step by founding Deerfield Farms Service Inc. Throughout the early years, Joan taught elementary school as a means to support the family.

The fledgling business sold Circle Brand grain bins and liquid fertilizers, and offered a custom application service for its fertilizer products. Excellence in customer service was emphasized, and the business formula was successful. Intellectual curiosity was one of Boyd’s hallmark characteristics. He was always willing and eager to teach others and to learn from others. As Boyd’s business partner, Joan established and maintained administrative systems and did much of the bookkeeping.  Always with an eye on quality control.

Unfortunately, Boyd met an untimely death in 1991 due to a tragic accident, but he has left a grand legacy to his family, Portage County, and the entire agricultural community of Ohio. The original 93-acre farm now encompasses 3,500 acres. In 2017 Deerfield Farms Service became Deerfield Ag Services and continues to thrive and now has more than 70 employees in four locations. Boyd Wallbrown had a dream many years ago. Today, under the continuing leadership and innovation of the Wallbrown family, that dream has come to fruition.

To honor the memory and legacy of Boyd and Joan, their four children established the Boyd and Joan Wallbrown Agriculture-Innovation Scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a person or persons choosing to pursue their education leading to a career in agricultural production, crop production or livestock/farm animals.

A scholarship will be awarded to a student who will be enrolled in a two-year technical school or a four-year undergraduate college program in the study of production agriculture or farm management. Applicants will be either high school seniors or already in college. 

Recipients of the Boyd and Joan Wallbrown Agriculture-Innovation Scholarship will be chosen with the hope and expectation that they too can contribute and lead in an innovative way in the agricultural profession.

Application Open January 1 – March 1

Wallbrown Scholarship Requirements

The applicant must have plans to pursue a higher education degree with the following focus(es):

Minimum Requirements: The scholarship recipient must be in their senior year and a candidate for graduation from a high school or vocational school or already enrolled in a two-year or four-year undergraduate college program. Prior recipients may apply for subsequent years.

  • Agricultural production,
  • Research/development in agriculture production,
  • Crop production,
  • Livestock/farm animals (including veterinarian medicine),
  • Agriculture engineering,
  • Emphasis on innovation and agriculture production advances. 

If not already enrolled, the applicant must have full intention to attend, an accredited technical school, college, or university, which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum. Normally has a regularly enrolled student body in attendance where education activities are regularly carried on for a course of study that prepares students for a career.

The applicant must provide two (2) letters of recommendation. One (1) letter from a current or former teacher, preferably in the agriculture discipline, and one (1) letter of recommendation from a community member (not related to applicant).

The applicant must be available for a personal interview, if requested.

Criteria: Applicants should address the criteria below throughout their application.

Academic Achievement. His/her class ranking, his/her grade point average, and the relative difficulty of his or her courses will show the applicant’s prior academic achievement. Please provide information that addresses your academic achievement.

Academic Potential. The Applicant’s academic potential will be demonstrated by his or her score on the ACT, SAT, or other national standardized tests commonly used to select students for their planned course of study. Please provide information that addresses your academic potential.

Financial Need. Financial need will be considered and it will be measured by the cost of the education as compared to the applicant’s financial resources. Please provide information that addresses your need of for financial assistance.

Community Service, School Citizenship, and Agriculture. The applicant’s commitment to his/her community and his/her school will be demonstrated by the applicant’s service, citizenship, and involvement in extra-curricular activities. Please provide information that addresses your commitment to this area.

Essay. A brief essay (not to exceed 500 words), expressing why you want to enter one or more of the vocational fields that are the focus of this scholarship.

No Prejudice. In making the selection, the committee shall not consider the applicant’s race, age, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity or disabilities.

No Relatives. The scholarship shall not be awarded to applicants who are close relatives of any of the following: a donor to the fund, a member of the fund’s scholarship selection committee, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, an employee of the Foundation, or a close relative of any of the above individuals. For purposes of this paragraph, a “close relative” is a spouse, child, stepchild, parent, grandchild, sibling, first cousin, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle.

The Selection Committee

The Committee will consist of representatives of the Foundation (or their designee) and representatives of Deerfield Farms Service, Inc.

The Foundation will be responsible to publicize the scholarships availability and explain the application process.

Donors, donors’ designees, and related persons shall not control the selection process.  

The Committee will recommend to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in the 2nd quarter of each year who should receive a scholarship(s).  The Selection Committee will also recommend the number of scholarships and amount of each scholarship to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  The amount(s) of the scholarships shall comply with the Foundation’s disbursement policy.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees will award the scholarship or scholarships after considering the recommendation of the Selection Committee.

Application Open January 1 – March 1