SMSU Ag Bowl FFA Invitational

Presented by:

January 30, 2026

Southwest Minnesota State University hosted the 14th Annual Ag Bowl Scholarship Invitational, presented by RALCO Nutrition of Marshall, on

January 30, 2026. We were very excited to welcome FFA students from across the state back to the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University for this year's invitational.

The Ag Bowl Scholarship Invitational is a competition for FFA members to participate in a choice of 16 Career Development Events (CDEs). Students have the opportunity to compete individually and as a team. The top FFA chapter will receive $500, the second-place chapter will receive $300, and a randomly selected chapter will receive $200. In team competition, each member of the first-place team will be awarded $500 in scholarship dollars and each member on the second-place team will receive $250 in scholarship dollars to SMSU. Individual CDE winners will receive scholarship dollars to SMSU -- $500 to first place winners and $250 to second place winners.

RALCO, along with many other great sponsors, brought more awareness to high school students through this invitational, while giving them the opportunity to challenge themselves in several different CDEs. Proceeds from Ag Bowl and the Ag Bowl Scholarship Invitational help to fund scholarships and programming to SMSU students and young people who dedicate their careers to business success in agriculture, environmental science and the food industries.

2026 Chapter Registration

is available here.

Please call (800) 260-0970 for information.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT EVENTS FOR 2026
(Contest format based on Minnesota CDEs // Participants must be in grades 7-12)

• Ag Education	• Fish & Wildlife	• Meats Evaluation & Technology
• Ag Sales	• Floriculture	• Milk Quality & Products
• Agronomy	• Food Science & Technology	• Nursery Landscape
• Best Informed Greenhand	• Forestry	• Soils
• Companion Animal Science	• Marketing Plan	• Vet Science
• Farm Business Management

2026 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Registration: 7:30 a.m. - 8:10 a.m. at SMSU Recreational Athletic (RA) Facility
Welcome: 8:15 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. at SMSU Recreational Athletic (RA) Facility

Competition to follow and will be completed by early afternoon.

Due to the changes in timing for regional and state competitions for Leadership Development Events, we will not be conducting any LDEs this year.

Professional dress is still required for any events that require a presentation.

Food Science will be limited to eight (8) teams this year.