Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation (OSCF) is pleased to announce that Gracie Sprague of Genoa, Ohio has been awarded a $3,000 Ohio Soybean Council Foundation Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Sprague, a 2023 graduate of Genoa High School, is a sophomore at The Ohio State University ATI studying agriscience education. She is one of 15 students to receive a scholarship from the Ohio Soybean Council Foundation.
Sprague, who grew up on her small family farm in Genoa with her parents and younger sister, Lyla, said her family is her greatest support system. Along with her sister, Sprague created her own show pig business, Sprague Show Pigs. She said she chose her college destination because of its strong sense of community, its hands-on agricultural education, and the people who make it feel like home.
This past November, Sprague was among seven winners of the National FFA Agricultural Proficiency Awards, which were announced during the second session of the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo in October in Indianapolis, Ind.
At that awards ceremony, Sprague was recognized as the national winner of the Agricultural Sales – Entrepreneurship Proficiency award. She is a supplement dealer selling three products for eight different livestock species. She learned to operate independently and is responsible for ordering inventory and monitoring sales, customer communication, marketing, and more. Primarily serving livestock exhibitors as customers, Sprague has also served as a mentor and teacher to young people in the industry.
More recently, Sprague had the chance to join Ohio State’s STEP (Second-Year Transformational Experience Program) on a trip to the nation’s capital.
"I'm honored to serve on the scholarship selection committee for the first time this year, and I am truly impressed by the caliber of these recipients," Jeff McKanna, Hancock County soybean farmer and scholarship selection committee member, said. "These students are the future of our industry, and I'm confident they will make meaningful contributions to its growth and success."
This is the 18th year for the OSCF Scholarship Program, which was created to encourage undergraduate students to pursue degrees in various fields that support the future of the soybean industry, including agriculture, business, communication, economics, education, science, and technology, as well as to support ongoing graduate-level research. Since 2008, the OSCF Scholarship Program has awarded over $680,000 in scholarship funds to students studying agriculture or a related field at Ohio colleges or universities.
About OSCF
Established by the Ohio Soybean Council in 2007, the Ohio Soybean Council Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the improvement of the soybean industry through the support of scientific research and education. www.soyohio.org/scholarship
About OSC
Headquartered in Worthington, the Ohio Soybean Council is governed by a volunteer farmer board, which directs the Soybean Promotion and Research Program. The program's primary goal is to improve soybean profitability by targeting research and development, education and promotion projects through the investment of farmer-contributed funds (checkoff). www.soyohio.org.
