Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp

05/27/2026

Congrats to UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment on the ribbon cutting of the new Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building! We were honored to attend and be a small part of such an amazing event for one of our founding partners.

05/25/2026

On Memorial Day, we pause to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country. Many of them came from the farms and rural communities we work to strengthen every day. Their sacrifice made possible everything we build, grow, and protect. We are grateful for their service and humbled by their dedication. From the BADC team, Happy Memorial Day.

05/21/2026

We built BADC to serve all of Kentucky, not just one corner of it. This map shows it's working.

🗺️ Challenge Grant applicants and award recipients span the Commonwealth, from western Kentucky to the eastern mountains and everywhere in between. Entrepreneurs across the state are developing AgTech solutions for Kentucky farms.

10 companies supported. 59 farms engaged. Counties across the map represented. 🌱

Kentucky agriculture is a statewide story, and our AgTech ecosystem should be too.

05/19/2026

It takes a team to build an ecosystem. 🤝

BADC was founded as a genuine public-private partnership, with founding support from:
🏙️ City of Lexington, Ky - Government
🌾 Kentucky Department of Agriculture
📚 UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
🏢 Alltech

Together: $2.25 million in institutional support to build Kentucky's AgTech foundation.

Learn more: bluegrassagtech.org

05/15/2026

What a week for Kentucky's small business and local food communities! 🙌

We started the week at Kentucky Celebrates Small Business, hosted by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center. Governor Beshear attended and signed an executive order creating the Team Kentucky Council on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Standout businesses were recognized for their impact across the Commonwealth.

This matters to us at BADC because our portfolio IS small business. Ten agtech companies building real solutions for Kentucky farms, creating 67 jobs, and turning innovation into economic impact. 💪

Later in the week, we attended the 8th Annual Kentucky Local Food Systems Summit hosted by The Food Connection. Farmers, chefs, food systems advocates, and community leaders came together to strengthen Kentucky's local food economy.

At BADC, our Food is Health focus area supports exactly this kind of work: innovations that help Kentuckians access nutritious local food while creating strong markets for our farmers. 🌱

Strong small businesses. Strong local food systems. Strong Kentucky.

05/13/2026

May is National Beef Month, and Kentucky's beef producers deserve a serious round of applause. 👏🐄

Here's what makes our state's beef industry remarkable:

🥩 Largest beef cattle inventory east of the Mississippi (862,000 head)
🌾 31,000+ beef cattle producers statewide
💰 $1.5 billion in cattle and calf receipts in 2024, Kentucky's #1 commodity

That strength is why Future-Proof Animal Protein is one of BADC's five Challenge Grant focus areas. We support entrepreneurs building innovations that help Kentucky's beef producers thrive, from animal health diagnostics to traceability systems to welfare monitoring tools.

Kentucky's cattle prices rose 20 to 30 percent over the past year as national supply tightened. Innovation can help our producers stay competitive and capture premium value in a changing market.

The future of beef in Kentucky is bright. And we're proud to support the innovators working alongside our producers to keep it that way. 🐂

05/11/2026

67 Kentucky jobs. 20 new positions. That's what our Challenge Grant portfolio has created. 💼

And those jobs aren't all in Lexington. Our 10 portfolio companies operate from Paducah to Perry County, Murray to the Bluegrass region.

AgTech is a statewide economic development opportunity. BADC is here to make sure Kentucky captures it.

bluegrassagtech.org 🔗

05/07/2026

What is BADC and why does it exist? 🌱

Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp (BADC) is a Kentucky nonprofit doing one thing: connecting agricultural innovation to the farms and communities that benefit from it.

We're a public-private partnership backed by the City of Lexington, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the University of Kentucky, and Alltech.

Our Challenge Grant Program funds Kentucky agtech startups developing real solutions for real farms.

Mission: Make Kentucky the agricultural technology capital of the United States. 🐎

Learn more: bluegrassagtech.org

Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp is helping cultivate an innovation ecosystem for entrepreneurs and startups in the agricultural sector.

05/05/2026

Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program Session 3 is a wrap for our Executive Director Jacob Ball! Three days in Louisville focused on civil discourse, advocacy, and what it actually takes to lead in Kentucky agriculture. 🌾

Highlights from the week:

🏦 Farm Credit Mid-America kicked things off with an honest look at their mission, young farmer engagement, and the policy issues facing ag finance today, including fertilizer price risks, farmland preservation, and AI in agriculture.

🎤 Dr. Tim Shaffer from the University of Delaware challenged our class to lead with intellectual humility and build stronger communities through real dialogue.

🏟️ David Beck, CEO of Kentucky Venues and operator of the Kentucky Expo Center, shared how major facilities like this anchor Kentucky's agricultural identity and economy.

🌭 F.B. Purnell's "Old Folks" Sausage in Shelby County showed us what three generations of commitment to a community looks like, up close and personal.

🏛️ Local officials in Simpsonville and Kentucky Farm Bureau leaders wrapped the week with grounded conversation about advocacy from the county level to Capitol Hill.

The big takeaway: agricultural leaders earn credibility through relationships and the willingness to engage across difference. 🤝

Grateful for KALP Class 15 and every host who made this seminar possible.

05/01/2026

✨ From the Executive Director's Desk – April 2026 Highlights ✨

April was a milestone month for BADC. The BADC Challenge Grant review process reached its final stages, with the Review Committee wrapping final evaluation. Award announcements are coming soon.

🎤 Keynote at the DARE-KY AgTech Symposium
This month I delivered the keynote address at Kentucky State University's DARE-KY AgTech Symposium. Nearly 100 AgTech researchers, students, and entrepreneurs were in the room -- a powerful opportunity to share BADC's mission and make the case for engaging the next generation in agricultural innovation.

🌱 Challenge Grant: Final Review Complete
The BADC Challenge Grant wrapped its final review stage this month, with scores being finalized by the Review Committee. The applicant pool represented incredible breadth -- from food production and sustainable fuels to plant science and genetic innovation. Award announcements are coming soon.

🤝 Ecosystem Engagement
From the Bluegrass Greensource Sustainability Summit to the Lexington Startup Breakfast and Tech at the Track with the Technology Association of the Bluegrass, April was packed with opportunities to connect with Lexington's innovation and sustainability communities.

🚀 AgTech Cohort: Taking Shape
Planning is advancing for BADC's AgTech entrepreneurship cohort. We are finalizing speakers, building the promotion timeline, and developing applicant outreach strategy. We look forward to engaging with our next group of Challenge Grant Awardees.

📰 In the News
BADC and our AgTech program partnership with Launch Blue were featured in Morning Ag Clips, a nationally distributed agricultural newsletter reaching producers and industry leaders across the country.

Looking ahead: May brings Challenge Grant award announcements continued growth. Grateful to Kentucky's agricultural innovation community for the energy, trust, and support. 🌿

04/30/2026

Last call for applications! The window to apply for the Summer 2026 UAccel: AgTech I-Corps cohort closes tonight.

If you’re working on an agriculture-related technology, startup concept or research idea, this is your final chance to take the next step.

UAccel: AgTech is designed for innovators who are ready to test ideas, hear from potential customers and better understand where their work can create real-world value.

Launch Blue and Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp are proud to support the next wave of AgTech innovation.

Apply before midnight: https://www.launchblue.org/uaccel-agtech