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Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship winner, finalist from Iowa

The American Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge winner and one of the finalists are based in Iowa.

AccuGrain, whose team lead is Ryan Augustine from Rose Hill, is an agricultural technology company using x-ray technology to inventory flowing grain in real time.  As the winner, Augustine received $30,000 in prize money.

AgriSync, based in Dallas Center and led by Casey Niemann, was one of the contest finalists.  AgriSync, also an agricultural technology company, uses a mobile customer support platform for farmers.  Niemann’s company, which just launched, was awarded $15,000.

Joining AccurGrain and AgriSync as finalists in the competition was Farm Specific Technology of Bolivar, Tennessee, which, in addition to the $15,000 finalist prize, gets $10,000 for earning the People’s Choice Award.  Fedora Malthouse from Village of Shepherd, Michigan, rounds out the contest finalists.

The Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship 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 on food and agriculture business.

AUDIO: Ryan Augustine (6 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Casey Niemann (4 min. MP3)