Applications for the 2020 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge will be accepted through Oct. 14.

In its sixth year, the Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge is a national business competition for U.S. food and agriculture startups. Entrepreneurs will compete for $145,000 in startup funds.

Launched in 2015 as the first national competition focused exclusively on rural entrepreneurs, the competition provides an opportunity for U.S. startups to showcase business innovations in food and agriculture. Startup funds for the Challenge are provided by sponsors Farm Credit, John Deere, Bayer Crop Science, Farm Bureau Bank and Country Financial.

To apply for the 2020 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, competitors can apply online at http://fb.org/aginnovationchallenge by midnight Eastern Standard Time on Oct. 14, 2019.

“Rural entrepreneurs face a number of additional challenges compared to their urban counterparts,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “These include limited access to broadband, high transportation costs and a lack of access to business networks. We’re very interested to see how entrepreneurs working in food and agriculture will use startup funds provided by the Challenge to take their businesses to the next level.”

Ten semi-finalist teams will be announced on Nov. 22 and awarded $10,000 each. All 10 semi-finalist teams will travel to AFBF’s Annual Convention in January 2020 to compete in a live competition to be the Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year. The 10 teams will compete to advance to the final round where four teams will receive an additional $5,000 and compete live on stage in front of Farm Bureau members, investors and industry representatives. The final four teams will compete to win:

Entrepreneurs and startups with businesses in the following categories are encouraged to apply:

Entrepreneurs must be Farm Bureau members to qualify as a top-10 semi-finalist. Applicants who are not Farm Bureau members can join a state Farm Bureau of their choice.

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