Win Cash for Creative Dairy Farm Inventions in 2025

By Blake Jackson

Dairy farmers have long been known for their creativity and problem-solving skills, often engineering their own innovative solutions to everyday challenges on the farm.

To celebrate this ingenuity, the Center for Dairy Excellence has launched the new “Farmer-Made Ingenuity” Contest, giving dairy farmers the chance to showcase their homemade inventions and win cash prizes. The contest runs from November 3 to December 12, 2025, and entries can be submitted at www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/farmer-made-contest.

“Whether it’s choosing the welder over an expensive repair bill or figuring out how to track data on your own to avoid another monthly subscription fee, farmers are constantly looking internally for homemade remedies to create cost-savings, improve their processes, and keep moving forward,” said Jayne Sebright, Executive Director at the Center for Dairy Excellence.

“This contest will showcase how inventive dairy farmers truly are and how much ingenuity they use in their day-to-day tasks. It also gives us a platform for exchanging these farmer-made ideas and creative solutions among our dairy community.”

Farmers are encouraged to submit creative and practical innovations that have improved their operations. Examples of eligible entries include a pill gun made from PVC pipe, an Excel spreadsheet calculating daily dry matter intakes, a homemade calf milk pasteurizer wagon using an electric kettle, a feed pusher repurposed from an old tire scraper, or even a farm-built methane digester.

To qualify, participants must be dairy producers or employees from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, or New Jersey. Entries must feature original ideas developed on the farm that solve real problems while maintaining worker safety. The first-place winner will receive $1,000, with $500 for second place and $250 for third.

Winners will be chosen in January 2026 through digital voting and will be highlighted online and at the PA Dairy Summit in February 2026.

The entry form asks for a short explanation of what was created, why it was made, and how it benefited the farm. For questions, contact Emily Barge at 717-788-0300 or ebarge@centerfordairyexcellence.org.

Photo Credit: center-for-dairy-excellence