Farmers need right-sized technology. 

Tools and technology can help farmers improve efficiency, save labor and connect with their customers. But many of the innovations in agriculture today are being built for large-scale production, out of reach for most family farms all while contributing to ecological degradation and yet more consolidation in the industry, perpetuating a vicious cycle. Despite America’s technological progress, every day 4 farms go out of business. Creeping ever-upward at an alarming rate, the average age of farmers has now surpassed 60. Meanwhile, many of those farms that do stay afloat are doing so at a loss. Over half of our nation’s farms report negative net income. Coupled with a “get big or get out” ideology, it would seem that technology has left smaller farms behind, all to the detriment of rural economies, social equity and even the health, sustainability and quality of our food. But does it have to be this way?

Whether you’re an engineer or just a crafty farmer, a startup or a team of grad students, we’re challenging you to share or develop a new innovation that can help smaller-scale farms compete, survive and thrive. From hardware to software, mechanical harvesters to marketing apps, we’re seeking proposals for technologies that will help level the playing field, strengthen local food systems and promote on-farm sustainability. As part of the 2023 Small Farms Conference, submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges representing farmers, investors, entrepreneurs and the tech industry. Winners will be showcased at the conference as well as at several other agricultural conferences, in video and online with the aim of helping shine a light on your innovation and you make your bright idea a reality.

This Challenge is open to global submissions and can include individuals, teams, students and start-up businesses. Please note that the bulk of promotion and recognition will take place in California, which is the nation’s largest agricultural state producing over 400 commodities at nearly $50 billion.

Three winners will be announced in January. A formal award ceremony will take place at the 2023 Small Farm Conference, Feb. 26 – March 2nd 2023.

Submissions will be accepted in any phase of development but must be received before November 1, 2022, 12am PST. Winners will be selected from three tracks.

While DIY Innovations submissions are intended to be open-source and shared freely, all designs and intellectual property submitted to the Software & Hardware Innovation tracks will remain with submitters. Elements of your proposal may be kept confidential. Patents welcome.

Submissions will be judged by CAFF staff and selection committee members based on the attributes below. Please read “SELECTION” for more details. 

• Promotes the economic viability of small-scale farm businesses 
• Novelty
• Financially accessible to small farm budgets
• Adaptability to a variety of farm systems and circumstances
• Promotes ecologically sustainable farm practices
• Repairable / adjustable by user
• Enables direct sales and local food systems
• Maintains farm autonomy; avoids dependence, monopolization 
• Long-term relevance
• Compatibility with diverse crop systems
• Ease of use

The winner of the 2019 Small Farm Innovation Challenge was The Farm Hand Tractor.

2022 Winners featured HarvestPath, Hand-E, and the No-dig Removable Endpost.

Examples of Relevant Categories and Farmers Needs:

• Harvesting and planting tools
• Soil management & monitoring
• Sales, Inventory Management & Tracking software
• Wash & Pack
• Record Keeping
• Fencing, On-farm Energy, Livestock Management Tools
• Poultry Equipment
• Irrigation & Water Systems
• Season Extension, Crop Storage
• Weeding Tools

Submissions will be accepted through our online application portal and must be received before the deadline, November 1, 2022, 12am PST.

Three winners total, one winner from each application portal, will be selected by a committee of individuals representing the small farm agricultural sector. 

Each application will be reviewed by CAFF staff and complete applications will move to next stage of review. Selection committee members will review applications from each category and provide a score based on the rubric listed below. 

DIY Innovators:  Graded focused on overall practicality and accessibility for the small farmer. Innovations should be reproducible, provide price information, and parts should be easy to get.

Software & Hardware Innovators: Graded on readiness to tackle the more complex challenges facing the small farm community.  The Innovation is a marketable product that can be scaled nationally or globally, have a clear customer base and is relatively unique. 

All Applications:

• Viability
  • What is the demand?
  • How competitive will it be in the current marketplace?
• Novelty
  • Does the product/service already exist? 

• Financially accessible to small farm budgets
  • What is the cost to implement?
  • Is the product/service affordable to small farm businesses with limited operating budgets? 
• Ease of use
  
  • Can a farmer of any skill level understand how to use it?
  • Can it be applied to a farm business without a substantial need to increase resources (labor hours, inputs, new equipment, etc.)?
  • Can farmers seek technical support for this product/service if they need it?
  • Can the product be modified/updated?
• Adaptability to a variety of farm systems and circumstances
  • Can it be applied to different production methods?
  • Can a farm producing the same item easily adopt?
  • Is it feasible for farms of any size to use?
• Repairable/adjustable by user
  
  • Can the user can repair as needed without relying on another company?
  • Is the innovation open source?  

Recognition at small farm conferences, agriculture publications, and small cash prizes. Join us for the awards ceremony on Sunday, February 26, 2023 from 3-3:45pm PT at the Small Farms Conference! 

Innovation Challenge winners will have the opportunity to present their innovation to a wide audience including conferences such as the Small Farms Conference. All innovators who submit complete applications will receive free registration for the 2023 Small Farms Conference. Winners will be celebrated via social media and to CAFF’s broad-based audience of farmers, agricultural and food industry professionals, and small farm advocates.

Momentum and attention gained from this challenge can help propel your innovation into new avenues and help make important connections. The winner of the 2019 Innovation Challenge, FarmHand Tractor has now made his idea a business reality and was selected as a 2021 cohort member of the business accelerator program Food System 6. 

$1,500 cash prizes presented to the 2022 winners. Please note that cash prize amounts depend on sponsors and vary year-to-year. 

Thomas Hammond, Agricultural Engineer at Sonoma, Goldridge, & Marin RCD’s and Abundance Ag Engineering

Engineering, Project Management, Whole system analysis

I grew up on ranches and have always been in Ag. I love the innovation farmers and ranchers create. I love helping them engineer regenerative solutions for their enterprises. I’m a graduate of Cal Poly, SLO, in BRAE. I hold two PE’s AG and Civil.

Hanna Kahl, Ecological Pest Management Specialist at Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Pest Management

Hanna specializes in building farmer co-learning networks and conducting research on ecological pest management practices. She has received a masters in Entomology at University of Maryland and is finishing a Ph.D. at UC Davis. Her current work is on using mating disruption for codling moth and navel orangeworm and enhancing biological control for spider mite management in walnuts. Her past research has focused on herbivory by earwigs in citrus, using living mulches to enhance beneficial insects, and the role of wolf spiders as cucumber beetle predators. In her free time, Hanna enjoys hiking, running, reading, skiing, and gardening. 

Perri Kramer, Program Director at Food System 6

Business Strategy, Fundraising, Innovation

Perri Kramer is the Program Director for Food System 6 Accelerator. She has worked in many parts of the food system including on farms, national grocery stores and school lunch companies, restaurant groups and once ran her own food business. An early passion for farming and food led her to study food equity and agriculture and ultimately to build a career working with ethical businesses that support sustainable food systems. 

Charity May, Principal at Sacred Futures

Business Development, Impact Investing, Regenerative Agriculture

Charity May is the Principal and Founder of Sacred Futures. As a multi-hyphenate, she has amassed experiences, networks, frameworks and insights across the fields of investment banking, economics, real estate, policy, agroecology, spirituality, and systems design. Integrating these disciplines in service of rebuilding our relationships to the living world for planetary health and wellbeing is her passion. With an affinity for enterprises working closest to the earth, Sacred Futures was launched as a means to catalyze and empower stewards renewing our food, fibers and finance systems.

Hector Reider, Senior Manager of Farm to Market at Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Sustainability, Protected Agriculture, Precision Agriculture

With a Master’s in Urban Environmental Management and experience implementing and providing precision agriculture consulting services with IoT technology, designing urban growing systems and protected agriculture projects, Hector worked to support sustainability in the field of Agriculture. In his current work, he supports small producers by providing technical assistance and working closely with them to move their products through the value chain. 

Arpan Soparkar, Business Analyst, GreenIT at Orange Silicon Valley

Impact Investments and AgTech

Arpan leads Green-IT coverage in Orange Silicon Valley’s Business Group. Passionate about people and the planet, he evaluates startups in carbon removal and emissions reduction, as well as adaptation across diverse sectors such as energy efficiency, transportation, green data centers, and climate disaster resilience. His professional background includes Software Development, Technical Product Management, and Startup Assessment (venture and growth stage). He holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and an MS in Computer Engineering from Columbia University.

Elizabeth Vaughan, Tech Hub Specialist at Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Appropriate Technology for Small Farms

Elizabeth brings over 10 years of experience in strengthening healthy, just, and sustainable food systems. At CAFF she manages the Small Farm Tech Hub, supporting farmers across California with their technology and business needs. Elizabeth’s education is in business economics from UC Santa Barbara and sustainable horticulture from Cuyamaca College. She also stewards her family’s five-acre ranch located in San Diego County.

Josh Volk, Owner/Operator at Slow Hand Farm

Systems for Small Farms

Josh Volk runs Cully Neighborhood Farm, a small urban CSA farm in Portland, Oregon. He also consults, writes, and teaches workshops on vegetable production under the name Slow Hand Farm. He is a regular contributor to Growing For Market and the Author of the books Build Your Own Farm Tools, and Compact Farms: 15 Proven Plans for Market Farms on 5 Acres or Less. He has been farming in the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years and before that he worked on farms in California, the Southwest, and the Northeast. He has a degree in mechanical engineering and started farming because he saw it as a way to combine his interests in social justice, care for the environment and eating well.

Evan Wiig, Director of Membership & Communications at Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Amplifying the voice of family farmers, organizing the grassroots, preaching a gospel of healthy soils.

Amy Wu, Founder of From Farms to Incubators 

Telling the stories of women innovators and entrepreneurs in agrifoodtech

Amy Wu is an award winning journalist and filmmaker.

Lisa Yeo, Assistant Professor at UC Merced

Security, Privacy, & User Experience

Dr. Lisa Yeo is an Assistant Professor in the Ernest & Julio Management Program at UC Merced. She is a collaborative problem solver who helps decision makers understand their operational challenges and identify solutions. Her focus is on the use of information systems and technology (IS/IT) to address social and organizational needs while also examining the new problems that IS/IT can create, especially with respect to information security and privacy. She challenges students and industry to consider the security and privacy impacts of IS/IT so that they can build a solid foundation and respect for different experiences with technology.