By Shelby Shank
Field Editor

Ava Grace Dora’s idea, LickMate Trio, earned her the top award in Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) AgVentures Challenge: Pitch It, Market It, Sell It state contest.

Dora, a senior homeschool student from Archer County, also took home a $6,000 scholarship as the winner.

The contest challenges high school seniors to develop and deliver a creative marketing pitch for an agricultural commodity, product or service.

“Students showcased their innovative agricultural concepts in the AgVentures Challenge, a Shark Tank style competition. The products don’t have to be real, but they do have to be related to agriculture,” McKenna Bush, TFB Youth Outreach coordinator, said. “These students rose to the occasion with unique and creative pitches. They studied their target audiences, researched potential competitors and created memorable presentations.”

LickMate Trio is a lick tub holder that holds lick tubs, salt blocks or loose minerals. Dora’s product aims to be a sustainable option for farmers and ranchers to use day-to-day on their operations.

“When I first heard about AgVentures, a few ideas came to mind, like the LickMate Trio. I stuck with that idea, and it’s really cool to see something I created now being used on my family’s ranch,” Dora said.

The runner-up in the state contest was Keira Short, a senior at Angleton Christian School.

Short developed Hideybugs, a robotic alternative to chemical pesticides.

“Hideybugs are a user-friendly device that connects to an app on your smartphone to help eliminate pests without using any type of chemical pesticides,” Short said.

As the runner-up, she received a $4,000 scholarship.

Other state finalists in the top six of the competition included:

  • Adyson Bullion of Walker County Farm Bureau;
  • Olivia Clifton of Rusk County Farm Bureau;
  • Aiden Mesler of Wichita County Farm Bureau;
  • Ema Mathis of Montgomery County Farm Bureau.

They each received a $2,000 scholarship.

The top six finalists also will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. this summer to meet with elected officials and tour historical sites.

Four other state finalists included:

  • Aubree Peralez of Lamb County Farm Bureau;
  • Cade Watkins of Midland County Farm Bureau;
  • Claire Ormand of Anderson County Farm Bureau;
  • Ellie Exum of Lipscomb County Farm Bureau.

They each received $1,500 scholarships.

Contest details
The contest is open to high school seniors who completed TFB’s Thrive experience last August.

Thrive is a part of TFB’s Student Success Series, which included virtual and in-person programs for students in eighth through twelfth grade. The Student Success Series aims to help students develop a better understanding of advocacy, learn more about Farm Bureau and grow personal and professional skills they can use in the classroom and future careers.

The state contest took place at TFB’s Conference and Training Center in Waco Jan. 17.

For more information about the Student Success Series, visit texasfarmbureau.org/student-success-series.