The American Farm Bureau Federation recently announced the top 10 teams in the 2016 Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge. Four finalists and six semi-finalists were selected from a number of high-quality teams (over 165) that entered the competition, and ultimately tech companies four of the top 10.

The challenge, now in its second year, provides opportunities for individuals to showcase business innovations being developed in rural regions of the U.S. It is the first national business competition focused exclusively on rural entrepreneurs working in food and agriculture businesses.

“The depth and diversity of business ideas in cultivation in rural areas across America is truly inspiring,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said. “Rural entrepreneurs typically face unique challenges including limited options for support with resources such as startup funding, which we aim to address through the challenge.”

Stallman announced the top teams at the AFBF’s October board of directors meeting. The final four teams, who each received $15,000 as finalists, are:
– AccuGrain (Rose Hill, Iowa), ag tech entry, X-ray technology to inventory flowing grain in real time. Team lead: Ryan Augustine.
– AgriSync (Dallas Center, Iowa), ag tech entry, mobile customer support platform for crop farmers. Team lead: Casey Niemann.
– Farm Specific Technology (Bolivar, Tennessee), ag tech entry, no-till crimper for cover crop production. Team lead: Shawn Butler.
– Fedora Malthouse (Village of Shepherd, Michigan), value-added processing entry, malted barley production for use by craft beer brewers. Team lead: Julie Baker.

Read the full press release here.