Brock Irwin of Belvidere awarded $1,000 scholarship

Brock graduated from Belvidere High School in 2017 and is currently attending Kaskaskia College where he will graduate in May of

Brock Irwin

2019. The Mid-West Dairymen’s Company has just awarded him a $1000 scholarship.

He will be attending University of Wisconsin- River Falls in the fall majoring in Dairy Science. Agriculture has been a huge part of Brock’s life while he was growing up on his family’s dairy farm. Brock has helped his family with all aspects of the farm.

During his high school career Brock was an active member of the National Honor Society and the FFA, serving in several leadership roles, including FFA President. He was a four-year member of the high school bowling team. He was active with the Professional Agricultural Student Organization (PAS), serving as State President of that organization. He also placed first nationally in PAS Prepared Public Speaking and was part of the PAS first place Dairy Specialist Team. Brock held a full range of offices in his local 4-H club and attended the National 4-H Dairy Conference and the National 4-H Congress. While attending Kaskaskia College Brock was on the team that placed first at the All-American Intercollegiate Dairy Judging Contest and NAILE Dairy Judging Contest.

Brock has been an active member in his community through his work with his church, Grace Family Church, with the Grange, as a member of the Boone-Winnebago Holstein Club, and a member of the Illinois Junior Holstein Association. Brock has enjoyed working with dairy cattle through his family’s farm, 4-H, FFA, and his internship at Golden Oaks Farm.

After graduating from college he plans to stay in the dairy industry. Brock’s ideal career would be working with dairy cattle, preferably his family’s dairy cows. He is also exploring the other aspects of the dairy industry, such as reproduction, genetics, and nutrition. While he recognizes that he may not end up taking over a farm and milking cows, he “can’t imagine living the rest of my life not in the dairy industry.”