The Veteran Farmer Award of Excellence recognizes veterans who have served or are currently serving in any branch of the United States Military and are actively involved in agriculture and their community. Applications will be evaluated based on excellence in farming and community impact. This program seeks to elevate and celebrate those who have served our country and continue to do so through involvement in agriculture and the community. 

The recipient of the award will receive $10,000 plus reimbursement of up to $5,000 in travel and other expenses incurred for the recipient and their guest to attend the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention to be held in Anaheim, California, on January 9-14, 2026.

AFBF will not accept submissions by email. All applications must be submitted via the Submittable platform. The platform does not allow for word count but limits the number of characters. If you have questions, please contact logany@fb.org.

Online applications must be submitted via the online portal on or before 5:00 p.m. ET September 2, 2025.

Important:

• You will need to create a free Submittable account in order to submit to these forms. 
• You  can save a draft of your work if you would like to finish filling out  the form at a later date. Keep in mind that for consideration, you MUST  complete the nomination by clicking SUBMIT at the very end of the form.
• We  will follow-up with you about your submission by email. This follow-up  email will come from Submittable. Please be sure the email address you  used to sign up for your Submittable account is one that you check  regularly. IMPORTANT - also check your junk email folder for emails from  Submittable. 

Online Submission Guidelines: 

• To complete the online application, visit https://fb.org/cfbgrants
• Applications are due by 12:00 p.m. (noon) ET on September 19, 2025.
• Create a Submittable account if you do not have an existing account. 
• Read through the application and process information, including eligibility, application guidelines, application timeline and selection criteria. 
• Verify agreement with the requirements by selecting, “Yes” and select “Next” to continue. 
• Move through the application, completing each section as described. Fields with an * must be completed before submitting the application.
• There is the option to save your work and come back later by selecting the “Save Draft” button at the bottom of the application. 
• State Coordinator Approval Form: Your application must be verified by the state YF&R coordinator, or similar role, at your state Farm Bureau. Use this section to email them a reference form to complete the State Approval step of your application. Add in an email address and a personalized message to explain your request before selecting “Send Request Now.”Chapters may submit their application before this reference form is completed by the state staff. 
• We recommend the submitter notify the state staff person that they will be receiving a verification email from Submittable. 
• If the state YF&R coordinator is the submitter of the mini-grant application, simply send the reference form to yourself to complete. 
• Once your application is finalized, click the “Submit” button to complete your application. 
• A confirmation email will be delivered to the Submitter’s email address. Please be sure to check your spam or junk folder if you are unable to locate this confirmation email. If you have not received a confirmation email within 24 hours of submitting your application, please reach out to yfr@fb.org. 
• You may log back into your Submittable account prior to the deadline to make any edits to your application. 
• Applications will be listed as “IN-PROGRESS” until they have been scored by judges. 
• Chapters will be notified via an email from Submittable as to the status of the application no later than October 8, 2025. Applications will then be listed as either “ACCEPTED” or “DECLINED.” 
• Submitters of accepted applications will then receive a follow-up email from Submittable with further information about remitting the first half of the grant funding and instructions for completing the Recap Report form. 
• Completing the Recap Report form via online submission is required to receive the second half of the grant funding.