By Justin Walker
Communications Specialist
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is looking to recruit ag technology and dairy food product companies for its 2020 Accelerator program.
The program will mentor and grow the companies who are innovating the dairy and ag tech industries, DFA Director of Innovation Doug Dresslaer said.
“For the food vertical, we’re looking to find companies that are doing new and interesting things with dairy as the main component,” Dresslaer said. “With ag tech, our goal is to identify companies with applications or technologies that can help us improve processes or reduce margins to ultimately enhance productivity on our members’ farms.”
DFA is looking for ag tech companies with an emphasis on any segment of the dairy value chain, including product testing, data management, herd health and management, supply chain optimization, sustainability and traceability.
Technologies of interest to DFA include dairy ERP systems, drone technologies, robotics and automation technologies for the farm, sensor technologies in agronomy, digester efficiency and new technology in animal health around mastitis.
Applicants for the dairy food products should be an early stage food product company with a focus on dairy.
The DFA program last 90 days, combining on-site meetings and virtual programs to train, grow and mentor the startups. Participants will spend about four weeks in Kansas City at the DFA headquarters.
Participants will meet with a variety of DFA executives, relevant investors and industry leaders.
“Ultimately, we’re looking for companies where we see long-term potential, as the end goal is to hopefully help and partner with them in some way,” Dresslaer said.
The 2020 DFA Accelerator program will start March 30, 2020.
Applications and additional information are available online.