American Farm Bureau Convention Monday Recap: Innovation Challenge, YF&R Awards, Secretary Rollins Remarks, Tim Tebow and More

The American Farm Bureau Convention continued today with several awards presentations, an engaging slate of workshops and an inspiring keynote address.

Programming began with the Final Four round of the Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet, as well as workshops covering the outlook for the ag economy, mental health, farm labor and more.

During the closing general session, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins shared remarks, which can be viewed here, and attendees were inspired by a keynote address from Heisman Trophy winner, former NFL player and five-time New York Times best-selling author Tim Tebow.

FarmMind, a Louisiana startup that brings agricultural workflows together in one place, was named the 2026 Ag Innovation Challenge winner, while KiposTech from Pennsylvania was named runner-up. FarmMind will receive a total of $100,000 in prize money sponsored in part by Farm Credit, Bayer Crop Science, John Deere, Farm Bureau Bank, Farm Bureau Financial Services and T-Mobile.

Winners of the Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award, Discussion Meet and Excellence in Agriculture competitions were announced. Drew and Lauren Wendland of Alabama won the Achievement Award, Lindy McMillen of Kansas won the Discussion Meet and Tera Baker of Michigan won the Excellence in Agriculture Award.

Also during the convention, members of the AFBF YF&R Committee elected a new executive team. Tommy Salisbury from Oklahoma will be the committee’s chair for 2026, taking over the position in March at the end of the YF&R Conference, and will serve for one year. He will also serve a one-year term on the AFBF board of directors.

Daniel Jones of California was elected vice chair and Allison Whiten of South Carolina was elected secretary. They will each serve one-year terms.

Tuesday Preview

The annual meeting of AFBF voting delegates will take place tomorrow. Delegates will set Farm Bureau policy for 2026. Media registered for convention may attend.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall is available for interviews by request following the close of the voting delegate session. To schedule an interview, contact Mike Tomko, miket@fb.org, or Bailey Corwine, baileyc@fb.org.

All livestreamed convention content, including President Duvall’s keynote address and Cultivation Center Stage programming, will be available on YouTube.