Previous Challenge Grant Program Winners

2025 to 2026 Winners

Farm Sense

Award Year: 2026
Location: Lexington, KY

FarmSense commercializes an affordable soil moisture sensor developed with Kentucky farmers, delivering a low-cost alternative to expensive commercial systems that sharply reduces water use while supporting Kentucky-based manufacturing, sensor calibration, and improved crop quality.

Lepidext

Award Year: 2026
Location: Lexington, KY

Lepidext develops species-specific biopesticides that manage corn earworm and other destructive lepidopteran pests, manufacturing at its Lexington rearing facility and scaling to national markets while giving Kentucky producers a safe, effective alternative to conventional pest control.

Need More Acres Farm

Award Year: 2026
Location: Scottsville KY

Need More Acres Farm operates as a regional food hub connecting locally grown food with healthcare, schools, and community partners, integrating clinical referrals and online ordering to expand access to Kentucky-grown food while creating reliable markets for a network of more than 30 partner farms.

Pascal Tags

Award Year: 2026
Location: Louisville, KY

Pascal Tags adapts its proven Barcode 2.0 platform for agricultural use, replacing failure-prone paper records with durable, automated asset tracking engineered to withstand moisture, dirt, and repeated handling across farm inputs, harvested products, and reusable equipment.

Silver Fern

Award Year: 2026
Location: Lexington, KY

Silver Fern, a Lexington software company founded in 2020, builds the Work Suite platform that helps greenhouse and nursery growers plan production and fulfill orders, advancing RESTOCK, its AI demand-forecasting module that predicts store-level plant demand and cuts weather-driven losses.

Sunnyside Egg Co.

Award Year: 2026
Location: Hopkinsville, KY

Sunnyside Egg Co. scales regenerative, mobile egg production that gives Kentucky farmers a lower-cost path into pasture-raised eggs, requiring roughly $120,000 to start versus the $2 million typical for major operations, while expanding packing capacity and developing carbon credit software.

2024 to 2025 Winners

Santerre International

Award Year: 2025
Location: Paducah, KY

Santerre International converts invasive Asian carp into fertilizer products — a liquid hydrolysate and a solid compost substitute — providing Kentucky’s organic farms with affordable, locally produced soil amendments while generating new rural livelihoods.

Orb Technologies

Award Year: 2025
Location: Lexington, KY

ORB Technologies manufactures the BiomieTM bio-composite building block from agricultural residues like grain straw and switchgrass, creating new income streams for Kentucky farmers while positioning the state as a leader in sustainable construction materials.

Kanbol Corn Containers

Award Year: 2025
Location: Auburn, KY

Kanbol uses a patented pulping process to transform corn stover — a byproduct of Kentucky’s bourbon and row-crop sectors — into compostable food containers, adding value to the farm economy while reducing plastic waste at scale.

2023 to 2024 Winners

Hempwood

Award Year: 2024
Location: Murray, KY

Hempwood uses a patented bio-mimicry process to transform hemp fibers and protein-based bonding agents into a durable substitute for solid oak, creating healthy, sustainable building materials from Kentucky-grown hemp.

Iristrac

Award Year: 2024
Location: Prospect, KY

Iristrac provides horse owners with a non-invasive equine identification system using a patented iris scanner, paired with a web platform for storing and accessing horse records — purpose-built for Kentucky’s equine industry.