DANVILLE, Ind. – The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) checkoff programs will offer partial tuition scholarships for full-time Indiana soybean and corn producers who are accepted to participate in the Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program (ALP).

“I am very fond of the Agricultural Leadership Program because I am a graduate,” said ICMC President Paul Hodgen, a farmer from Roachdale, Ind. “I learned a tremendous amount from this program. It was designed to be very challenging and rewarding for professional development of potential leaders from across Indiana. This was really designed to develop people not just for higher offices but also for things closer to home such as school boards, church boards or county offices. It’s about developing the talent base to serve on all things. The reason ICMC is sponsoring this scholarship is because we need farmer leaders on our board to oversee the governance of the checkoff.”

ISA and ICMC will contribute up to $1,000 per full-time corn and soybean farmer accepted into the program.

The ALP is designed to guide Indiana’s promising leaders to new levels of leadership skill and to a heightened awareness and understanding of the issues facing our industry.

“The future success of our organizations and our industry relies on educated, engaged farmers,” said ISA Chair Mike Koehne, a farmer from Greensburg, Ind. “We encourage more soybean and corn farmers to participate in this program. This will bring new ideas and a fresh look at the future of our organizations.”

ALP is administered by AgrIInstitute, Inc. Founded in 1983, this organization has conducted 20 classes of this program, providing the opportunity for more than 550 individuals to enhance their capacity for strong service in agricultural and communities throughout Indiana, the United States and abroad.

The Agricultural Leadership Program features 12 study seminars devised to widen understanding in vital areas of civic engagement and leadership. Participants broaden their knowledge in a wide range of economic, social, political and cultural matters as well as expand their leadership skills. Ten of the seminars are three days in length and in locations throughout Indiana. In addition, the participants study one week in Washington, D.C., and two weeks in a foreign country.

AgrIInstitute selects up to 30 individuals to participate in the two-year program. Each class represents a diverse group of agricultural and rural community representation. Tuition for this program is $6,000 per person. Applications for the upcoming class 21 must be submitted with a postmark date of Jan. 26, 2024.

For additional information, contact ALP Executive Director, Beth Archer, 317-745-0947 or beth@agriinstitute.org or ISA and ICMC Board Leadership Manager Amber Myers at 317-644-2863 or amyers@indianasoybean.com.