2025 FutureSolvers Cultivation Challenge Winners
Live Pitch Competition March 25, 2025
First Places Winner – Business Track
Minnesota Farm & Flavor
Minnesota Farm & Flavor is a project that combines a hobby farm, lodge, and on-site restaurant to offer an immersive countryside experience. Designed as both a relaxing retreat and an educational adventure, it allows guests to engage in hands-on farm activities while enjoying the natural beauty of rural Minnesota. The project aims to foster a deeper connection to nature and showcase the simple pleasures of farm life.
First Place Winner – STEM Track & Tech-Forward Bonus Prize Winner
Hops Harvester
This project centers around a hops stripping machine designed to enhance the efficiency and speed of hop harvesting for small to mid-sized farms.
Second Place – Business Track
ReVive Rural
ReVive Rural is a dynamic, multi-use project located in rural southern Minnesota, aimed at promoting community engagement, sustainability, and economic development. The space features a pop-up market, interactive gardens, a splash pad, and an arts & culture hub. It serves as a collaborative environment for students, local businesses, farmers, and families to connect, create, and grow together.
Second Place – STEM Track and People’s Choice Winner
LoRaNET
LoRaNET is a low-cost, self-sustaining mesh network designed to address connectivity and automation challenges in rural agricultural operations. Utilizing solar-powered LoRa nodes and GPS-based ad-hoc routing, the system enables real-time tracking, environmental sensing, and decentralized communication across farmland. LoRaNET supports improved crop monitoring, equipment tracking, and rural IoT connectivity, helping farmers and agribusinesses boost efficiency, reduce costs, and advance technology adoption in rural communities.
Third Place – Business Track
AgriPath Trade Academy
AgriPath Trade Academy is a summer-long agricultural trade school based in Mankato, Minnesota, offering high school graduates an alternative path to a career in agriculture. The program focuses on hands-on training in farming, agribusiness, and agricultural technology, preparing students for the workforce without the need for a traditional college degree. Through partnerships with local farms and agribusinesses, students gain real-world experience, while industry sponsors benefit from a pipeline of skilled, job-ready talent—addressing critical labor shortages and supporting workforce development in the agricultural sector.
Third Place – STEM Track
Open Soil
Open Soil is a 501(c) non-profit organization based in Lanesboro, Minnesota, focused on advancing regenerative agriculture through accessible, open-source soil gas monitoring technology. The organization will produce and distribute solar-powered sensor systems that provide continuous, real-time measurements of key soil gases—such as CO₂, CH₄, NH₄, and NH₃—at multiple depths. These systems offer farmers and researchers valuable data to assess soil health, validate regenerative practices, support sustainable agriculture, and contribute to climate change mitigation efforts.
