AMES, Iowa — Undergraduate and graduate students from 15 land-grant universities will compete in the next few months for $15,000 in cash awards through a new program developed by Iowa State University’s Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative (AEI).

“Today’s ag environment is as challenging as ever, so to secure our future, we will need growers and ag industry professionals with true vision, and an entrepreneurial spirit,” said Harry H. Stine, founder of Stine Seed Co. in Adel.

“When we develop high-yielding seeds, the way to find the very best is through extensive testing and evaluation. So it stands to reason that the best way for us to find the ag leaders of tomorrow is to look for those individuals that show promise, and then provide programs and resources to help them hone their skills.”

Sponsored by Stine Seed Co. and Summit Group, students will be developing agriculture-related entrepreneurial business venture ideas. Three grand prizes in the amount of $5,000 each will be awarded to the top teams.

The mission of the AEI is to create a broad understanding of entrepreneurship among faculty and students of ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its supporting components, to provide a portfolio of educational experiences to develop such skills while increasing interaction among students, faculty and agricultural entrepreneurs and to increase the number of students and faculty engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

The Agricultural Business Plan Competition is open to students at ISU, Colorado State University, Illinois State University, University of Illinois, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, University of Missouri, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, South Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

“There are many talented students enrolled in agriculture programs at our land-grant universities,” said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Group in Alden, Iowa. “The importance of entrepreneurship in today’s world can’t be overstated – and its role for tomorrow’s agriculture is vital.”

Submissions are due Nov. 15, with final business plan presentations at the Entrepreneurial Agribusiness Executive Conference in January 2015 at ISU. For additional information, visit www.ag ideasisu.com/competition