About the Nominee:
RequiredType of Farmer (select all that apply):
RequiredFarm Name:
Describe the nominee's business:
RequiredWhat three words describe the nominee?
RequiredDescribe ways in which the nominee demonstrates leadership and advocacy within the agriculture industry (include involvement in activities or committees, volunteerism etc.) and their commitment to the industry (Include examples of efforts on the farm, within a family setting, in the community, etc.)
Share ways in which the nominee has persevered in the face of adversity, either on or off the farm.
If self nominating, what is your vision/goals for your farm/operation?
RequiredPlease
include any additional information that you have about the nominee’s farming
operation and community involvement.
If the nominee's operation is on social media please let us know where we can find them:
How
did you hear about this award? (nominator)
About the nominator:
RequiredHow do you know the nominee?
RequiredFor self-nominations, do you agree to allow Compeer Financial to contact you for a potential follow up story?
*For individuals who are being nominated by someone else, a representative from Compeer Financial will follow up and seek permission to share their story.
“Groundbreaker of the Year”
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR FINANCIAL SERVICES RELATIONSHIP OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS CONTEST. PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR FINANCIAL SERVICES RELATIONSHIP WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
SPONSOR: Compeer Financial, ACA, 2600 Jenny Wren Trail, PO Box 810, Sun Prairie, WI 53590
ENTRY PERIOD: “GROUNDBREAKER OF THE YEAR” nominations will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. Central Time (“CT”) on June 3, 2024 and ends at 11:59 p.m. CT on August 30, 2024 (the “Nomination Period”).
ELIGIBILITY: The Groundbreaker of the Year contest (the “Contest”) will accept nominations for an individual to be honored as the “Groundbreaker of the Year”. Additionally, two individuals will be recognized as honorable mentions. Nominators and Nominees must be legal residents of Illinois, Minnesota or Wisconsin and must be eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry. Nominees must operate or work on a farm, and must meet one or more of the following criteria for a Young, Beginning or Small farmer:
· Age 35 or younger at time of application; or
· 10 years or less of farming or ranching experience at time of application; or
· Generate less than $350,000 in annual gross sales for the 2023 calendar year.
Officers, directors, managers and employees (including immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and members of the same household, whether or not related) of Compeer Financial, ACA (the “Sponsor”) and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies, licensees, distributors, retailers, dealers, printers, advertising and promotion agencies, consultants and agents, and any others engaged in the development, production, execution or distribution of this Contest, are not eligible to participate or win a prize. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Contest is void outside of the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin and wherever else restricted or prohibited by law.
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR FINANCIAL SERVICES RELATIONSHIP OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS CONTEST. PURCHASE, PAYMENT OR FINANCIAL SERVICES RELATIONSHIP WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
SPONSOR: Compeer Financial, ACA, 2600 Jenny Wren Trail, PO Box 810, Sun Prairie, WI 53590
ENTRY PERIOD: “GROUNDBREAKER OF THE YEAR” nominations will be accepted from 12:00 a.m. Central Time (“CT”) on June 3, 2024 and ends at 11:59 p.m. CT on August 30, 2024 (the “Nomination Period”).
ELIGIBILITY: The Groundbreaker of the Year contest (the “Contest”) will accept nominations for an individual to be honored as the “Groundbreaker of the Year”. Additionally, two individuals will be recognized as honorable mentions. Nominators and Nominees must be legal residents of Illinois, Minnesota or Wisconsin and must be eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry. Nominees must operate or work on a farm, and must meet one or more of the following criteria for a Young, Beginning or Small farmer:
· Age 35 or younger at time of application; or
· 10 years or less of farming or ranching experience at time of application; or
· Generate less than $350,000 in annual gross sales for the 2023 calendar year.
Officers, directors, managers and employees (including immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and members of the same household, whether or not related) of Compeer Financial, ACA (the “Sponsor”) and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies, licensees, distributors, retailers, dealers, printers, advertising and promotion agencies, consultants and agents, and any others engaged in the development, production, execution or distribution of this Contest, are not eligible to participate or win a prize. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Contest is void outside of the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin and wherever else restricted or prohibited by law.
Winners are subject to verification of the above terms and conditions.
HOW TO ENTER: Nominations will be accepted online at https://www.compeer.com/ag-financing/agriculture-loans/groundbreakers (the “Website”) during the Nomination Period. To nominate an individual for the Groundbreaker of the Year, a Nominator must complete the Nomination Form during the Nomination Period. Required portions of the Nomination Form must be completed, including the Nominee’s full name, city and state of residence, birthdate, telephone number and e-mail address. Nominators also will be asked to answer questions about the nominee’s farming operation and community involvement. Nominator must provide their name, address, phone number and email address. In order for the nomination to be valid, an entry must be submitted during the Nomination Period. Nominators are permitted to nominate themselves for the contest.
Entries having incomplete information will be disqualified and ineligible to win.
Sponsor is not responsible for any nomination that is late, misdirected or undeliverable, due to system errors, omissions, interruption, deletions, defects, delay in operations or transmissions, theft or destruction or failures, faulty transmissions or other telecommunications malfunctions, nominations not received resulting from any hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or telephone transmissions, typographical or system errors and failures, faulty transmissions, technical malfunctions, or otherwise.
In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting a nomination, the entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of nomination. The authorized account holder is the natural person who is assigned to the e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider, or other organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses, or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.
All entries submitted become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be returned.
Entries will also be accepted by mail. To enter the Contest by mail, a Nominator must print an entry form from www.compeer.com/groundbreakeroftheyear, and complete it in full, including nominee’s full name, city and state of residence, birthdate, telephone number and e-mail address. Nominators also will be asked to answer questions about the nominee’s farming operation and community involvement. Nominator must provide their name, address, phone number and email address. Entries submitted by mail must be postmarked on a calendar date occurring during the Nomination Period. Sponsor will not be responsible for lost, stolen, misdirected, postage due or misplaced entries.
Entries must be submitted in the English language.
Nominations may be completed by families, relatives, friends or an eligible Groundbreaker themselves. Nominations that do not comply with the terms of the Contest will result in disqualification. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any nomination at any time which, in Sponsor’s opinion, is offensive, contains unsuitable material, is otherwise inappropriate, or if it is determined the Nominator has not complied with these Official Rules. To be valid, each nomination must provide all information requested.
JUDGING AND SCORING: Nominations will be judged and scored by a panel of judges selected from Sponsor’s YBS Advisory Committee during the month of September 2024. Nominees will be evaluated and scored on their involvement in, commitment to and impact on the agricultural industry and their community based on these criteria:
· Ag Leadership and Advocacy;
· Community Involvement;
· Perseverance; and
· Commitment to the Ag Industry.
WINNING AND PRIZES: One (1) winner, the nomination with the highest overall score after judging, will be named Groundbreaker of the Year and awarded $5,000 (the “Grand Prize”). The Grand Prize will be awarded in the form of a check payable to the Groundbreaker of the Year. Total Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Grand Prize is $5,000. The Groundbreaker of the Year will also be eligible to direct a one-time charitable gift of $2,500 made in their name from the Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America—which is Compeer’s corporate giving program. The charitable gift must align with the Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America’s giving guidelines (link) and fall within the focus areas of: agricultural advocacy and development, agriculture education, cooperative initiatives, rural development and community enrichment, and youth engagement. Odds of winning Groundbreaker of the Year are dependent on the number of nominees and are equal to one (1) /the total number of valid nominations received.
Two (2) additional winners, the nominations with the next two highest overall scores after judging, will each be awarded $2,500 (the “Honorable Mention Prizes”). The Honorable Mention Prizes will be awarded in the form of a check payable to the second and third place scored nominations in the Contest. Total Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each Honorable Mention Prize is $2,500. Odds of winning one of the Honorable Mention Prizes are dependent on the number of nominees and are equal to two (2) /the total number of valid nominations received.
The three (3) prize winners will be announced at the annual Groundbreakers Conference in February 2025. Winners need not be present at the Groundbreakers Conference to win.
TIE BREAKING PROCEDURE: In the event of any tied overall score for either Groundbreaker of the Year or an Honorable Mention Prize, the award will be given to the nominee who scored highest in the Ag Leadership and Advocacy criteria. In the event of a tie for multiple awards, the nominee with the highest Ag Leadership and Advocacy score among all such tied entries shall be award the highest available prize and the entry with the next highest Ag Leadership and Advocacy score shall be award the next available prize. This procedure shall be followed until all such prizes have been awarded.
PRIZE RESTRICTIONS: Limit of one (1) Grand Prize and two (2) Honorable Mention Prizes. No prize substitution is permitted. Prize is not transferable. No more than one Grand Prize and two Honorable Mention Prizes will be awarded. By accepting a prize, a prize winner consent to Sponsor’s use of his/her name, likeness, biographical information, image, and/or voice and other indicia of persona for purposes of advertising, promotion, and publicity in any and all media now or hereafter known, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification, permission or approval. Nominators consent to Sponsor’s use of the submission for promotional purposes without compensation, notification, permission or approval.
PRIZE CLAIM: Except where prohibited, the Winner of the Groundbreaker of the Year and those named as Honorable Mention Prize winners will be notified on or before the week of February 1, 2025 and must sign and return, within the time frame indicated in the notification, an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability/Publicity Release and an IRS W-9 Form (the “Paperwork”) in order to claim his/her respective Prize. If a potential prize winner fails to return the Paperwork within the date and time indicated in the notification, or are found to be ineligible, or if he/she does not comply with the Official Rules, such potential prize winner will be disqualified and another potential prize winner will be selected based on the judging criteria. If an email notification is returned as undeliverable or a prize winner is unable to be contacted, this will result in disqualification and an alternate prize winner will be selected based on the judging criteria.
The value associated with each prize is taxable as income and prize winners are solely responsible for any taxes, including, but not limited to all applicable federal, state and local taxes that become due with respect to the value of the prize received. The Sponsor must report the value of each prize to the Internal Revenue Service in the year the prizes are received and will be reported to each prize winner and the Internal Revenue Service in the form of a Form 1099.
Nominator agrees to be bound by the Official Rules provided above, including use of this submission for promotional purposes without compensation, notification, permission or approval.
HOW TO ENTER: Nominations will be accepted online at https://www.compeer.com/ag-financing/agriculture-loans/groundbreakers (the “Website”) during the Nomination Period. To nominate an individual for the Groundbreaker of the Year, a Nominator must complete the Nomination Form during the Nomination Period. Required portions of the Nomination Form must be completed, including the Nominee’s full name, city and state of residence, birthdate, telephone number and e-mail address. Nominators also will be asked to answer questions about the nominee’s farming operation and community involvement. Nominator must provide their name, address, phone number and email address. In order for the nomination to be valid, an entry must be submitted during the Nomination Period. Nominators are permitted to nominate themselves for the contest.
Entries having incomplete information will be disqualified and ineligible to win.
Sponsor is not responsible for any nomination that is late, misdirected or undeliverable, due to system errors, omissions, interruption, deletions, defects, delay in operations or transmissions, theft or destruction or failures, faulty transmissions or other telecommunications malfunctions, nominations not received resulting from any hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or telephone transmissions, typographical or system errors and failures, faulty transmissions, technical malfunctions, or otherwise.
In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting a nomination, the entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of nomination. The authorized account holder is the natural person who is assigned to the e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider, or other organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses, or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.
All entries submitted become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be returned.
Entries will also be accepted by mail. To enter the Contest by mail, a Nominator must print an entry form from www.compeer.com/groundbreakeroftheyear, and complete it in full, including nominee’s full name, city and state of residence, birthdate, telephone number and e-mail address. Nominators also will be asked to answer questions about the nominee’s farming operation and community involvement. Nominator must provide their name, address, phone number and email address. Entries submitted by mail must be postmarked on a calendar date occurring during the Nomination Period. Sponsor will not be responsible for lost, stolen, misdirected, postage due or misplaced entries.
Entries must be submitted in the English language.
Nominations may be completed by families, relatives, friends or an eligible Groundbreaker themselves. Nominations that do not comply with the terms of the Contest will result in disqualification. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any nomination at any time which, in Sponsor’s opinion, is offensive, contains unsuitable material, is otherwise inappropriate, or if it is determined the Nominator has not complied with these Official Rules. To be valid, each nomination must provide all information requested.
JUDGING AND SCORING: Nominations will be judged and scored by a panel of judges selected from Sponsor’s YBS Advisory Committee during the month of September 2024. Nominees will be evaluated and scored on their involvement in, commitment to and impact on the agricultural industry and their community based on these criteria:
· Ag Leadership and Advocacy;
· Community Involvement;
· Perseverance; and
· Commitment to the Ag Industry.
WINNING AND PRIZES: One (1) winner, the nomination with the highest overall score after judging, will be named Groundbreaker of the Year and awarded $5,000 (the “Grand Prize”). The Grand Prize will be awarded in the form of a check payable to the Groundbreaker of the Year. Total Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Grand Prize is $5,000. The Groundbreaker of the Year will also be eligible to direct a one-time charitable gift of $2,500 made in their name from the Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America—which is Compeer’s corporate giving program. The charitable gift must align with the Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America’s giving guidelines (link) and fall within the focus areas of: agricultural advocacy and development, agriculture education, cooperative initiatives, rural development and community enrichment, and youth engagement. Odds of winning Groundbreaker of the Year are dependent on the number of nominees and are equal to one (1) /the total number of valid nominations received.
Two (2) additional winners, the nominations with the next two highest overall scores after judging, will each be awarded $2,500 (the “Honorable Mention Prizes”). The Honorable Mention Prizes will be awarded in the form of a check payable to the second and third place scored nominations in the Contest. Total Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of each Honorable Mention Prize is $2,500. Odds of winning one of the Honorable Mention Prizes are dependent on the number of nominees and are equal to two (2) /the total number of valid nominations received.
The three (3) prize winners will be announced at the annual Groundbreakers Conference in February 2025. Winners need not be present at the Groundbreakers Conference to win.
TIE BREAKING PROCEDURE: In the event of any tied overall score for either Groundbreaker of the Year or an Honorable Mention Prize, the award will be given to the nominee who scored highest in the Ag Leadership and Advocacy criteria. In the event of a tie for multiple awards, the nominee with the highest Ag Leadership and Advocacy score among all such tied entries shall be award the highest available prize and the entry with the next highest Ag Leadership and Advocacy score shall be award the next available prize. This procedure shall be followed until all such prizes have been awarded.
PRIZE RESTRICTIONS: Limit of one (1) Grand Prize and two (2) Honorable Mention Prizes. No prize substitution is permitted. Prize is not transferable. No more than one Grand Prize and two Honorable Mention Prizes will be awarded. By accepting a prize, a prize winner consent to Sponsor’s use of his/her name, likeness, biographical information, image, and/or voice and other indicia of persona for purposes of advertising, promotion, and publicity in any and all media now or hereafter known, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification, permission or approval. Nominators consent to Sponsor’s use of the submission for promotional purposes without compensation, notification, permission or approval.
PRIZE CLAIM: Except where prohibited, the Winner of the Groundbreaker of the Year and those named as Honorable Mention Prize winners will be notified on or before the week of February 1, 2025 and must sign and return, within the time frame indicated in the notification, an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability/Publicity Release and an IRS W-9 Form (the “Paperwork”) in order to claim his/her respective Prize. If a potential prize winner fails to return the Paperwork within the date and time indicated in the notification, or are found to be ineligible, or if he/she does not comply with the Official Rules, such potential prize winner will be disqualified and another potential prize winner will be selected based on the judging criteria. If an email notification is returned as undeliverable or a prize winner is unable to be contacted, this will result in disqualification and an alternate prize winner will be selected based on the judging criteria.
The value associated with each prize is taxable as income and prize winners are solely responsible for any taxes, including, but not limited to all applicable federal, state and local taxes that become due with respect to the value of the prize received. The Sponsor must report the value of each prize to the Internal Revenue Service in the year the prizes are received and will be reported to each prize winner and the Internal Revenue Service in the form of a Form 1099.
Nominator agrees to be bound by the Official Rules provided above, including use of this submission for promotional purposes without compensation, notification, permission or approval.
Nominator agrees to be bound by the Official Rules provided
above, including use of this submission for promotional purposes without
compensation, notification, permission or approval.