By Zippy Duvall
Not every good business idea starts in a boardroom. Most of the time for farmers, good ideas start out in the field, solving problems that just won’t wait. Maybe it’s a better way to track equipment or a tool to save some time during harvest. That spirit of innovation is what drives agriculture forward. And it’s exactly what we see year after year through the Ag Innovation Challenge.
Ag Innovation Challenge Brings Ideas to Life
Now in its 13th year, the Ag Innovation Challenge gives entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their innovative businesses that address challenges facing America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Every year, we see applicants from across the country working on solutions to real issues on the farm, whether it’s improving efficiency, lowering costs, or helping farms run more smoothly.
Through the Challenge, we don’t just recognize those ideas, we help move them forward. Thanks to support from sponsors including Farm Credit, Bayer, John Deere, Farm Bureau Bank, Farm Bureau Financial Services, ClearPath and T-Mobile, we’re able to meaningfully invest and take these ideas further, including a grand prize of $100,000.
Just as important, these entrepreneurs gain exposure, feedback and connections that help them grow beyond the competition.
Each year, entrepreneurs from across the country step forward with ideas that could make a real difference for farmers and ranchers. Through a competitive process, those ideas are evaluated by experts from across agriculture, helping narrow the field to a group of 10 semi-finalists.
From there, the top teams continue to refine their ideas and advance to the final round at the American Farm Bureau Convention, where they take the stage to share their businesses with a judging panel in front of farmers, industry leaders and a live audience.
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