Sixty-nine Middle, High Schools Receive Funding to Support Agricultural Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Laudan Fenster, Public Relations Strategist
[email protected] or (952) 900-1751

Sixty-nine Middle, High Schools Receive Funding to Support Agricultural Education

Compeer Financial fueling the next generation of agricultural leaders

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis., Sept. 23, 2026 – Nearly 70 middle and high schools received $446,318 in grants from Compeer Financial to support agricultural education programs. The Next A.C.R.E. grant, part of the Compeer Giving program, awarded up to $7,500 to each recipient school, with 21 Illinois, 21 Minnesota and 27 Wisconsin schools receiving a grant. Funds are used for equipment and resources that advance hands-on learning and support renovations, improvements and building projects for non-traditional classrooms, such as greenhouses, shops and livestock barns. 

Through the Next A.C.R.E. grant, Compeer Financial aims to uplift agriculture programs in secondary schools, where they have been making an impact since 1832 when the Boston Asylum and Farm School was established. Over the past couple of decades, though, ag education has faced challenges that include lack of qualified instructors, unfilled positions, low enrollment and lack of funding. These and other factors have resulted in programs not keeping pace with technology advancements and even some programs being cut. 

“With the Next A.C.R.E. grant, Compeer Financial intends to help ag education programs keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving agricultural landscape and give students the opportunity to elevate their agricultural knowledge and skills,” said Karen Schieler, manager of Compeer Giving at Compeer Financial. “Advancements in technology across ag sectors make it important to provide middle and high school students with equipment and resources that accurately represent the opportunities available within an industry that feeds, fuels and clothes us all. We hope this funding inspires students to pursue a career in agriculture where they can make a lasting impact on their local communities and the world.”

Grant recipients intend to use the funds across both traditional agricultural skills and emerging technologies to support a broad range of ag and career-focused education. In their applications, they emphasized hands-on, experiential learning that gives students opportunities to work with animals, grow, build, repair, test and fabricate. Several schools intend to use the funding to adopt advanced technology and simulation, including virtual welding, CNC plasma, precision-ag sensors and veterinary/livestock simulators.

To qualify for a Next A.C.R.E. grant, applicants must offer agriculture education classes at a middle or high school within Compeer Financial’s 144-county territory. Compeer Financial will again offer the grant in 2027. 

The 69 school programs receiving a Next A.C.R.E. grant in 2026 include:

Illinois

• Abingdon-Avon High School: An instructional greenhouse with heating, cooling, irrigation, environmental controls.
• Brown County High School: An aquaponics system.
• Clifton Central High School: Greenhouse repairs.
• Dakota CUSD 201: Livestock training models, animal health tools, livestock identification technology, feed and nutrition equipment, animal evaluation resources.
• Eureka High School: Tractor engine overhaul and restoration.
• Herscher High School: Electrical wiring and trailer circuits, STEM kits, greenhouse plant plugs.
• Lexington CUSD #7: A virtual welding simulator.
• Midwest Central High School: Stainless-steel workbenches, small engines, hand tools.
• Rich Township High School District 227: An animal health trainer, urban growing equipment, a color printer, heat press.
• Ridgeview C.U.S.D. #19: Greenhouse benches, propagation supplies.
• River Ridge High School: Welders, welding contact tips, wire.
• Rock Falls High School: Fishing lure molds, soil test kits, plant propagation supplies, scales, beakers, measuring cups, dehydrators.
• Sherrard CUSD #200: A laser engraving and cutting system, conveyor, rotary tool, air purifier.
• Somonauk High School: A remote-controlled tractor pull challenge, trailer circuits, STEM kit, small engine model kits.
• Southeastern High School: Ag mechanics and technology shop tools and equipment.
• Southside Occupational Academy High School: Chicken coop roof and weatherization improvements, outdoor chicken-care equipment.
• Sycamore High School: Ethanol vapor sensors, load sensors, wind experiment kits, food dehydrator, ultrasonic cleaner, veterinary kits, power saws.
• Tremont High School: Greenhouse ventilation and airflow equipment, including exhaust fans, shutters, circulation fans.
• Trinity Academy: MIG welder, welding helmets and protective equipment, welding table, fabrication tools, veterinary science models, soil-testing equipment.
• Tri-Valley Middle School: LED grow lights, planting trays, grow-light stands.
• Wethersfield Jr./Sr. High School: A school greenhouse with heating, ventilation, irrigation, staging tables.

Minnesota

• Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Public Schools: A freeze dryer.
• Buffalo Hanover Montrose ISD 877: A sod cutter, plate compactor, concrete cutoff saw.
• Cleveland Public School: Water-bath and pressure canning equipment, food dehydrator, freezing and vacuum-sealing equipment, thermometers.
• Ellsworth Public School: Small engines, engine repair tools.
• Goodhue Public Schools: A greenhouse irrigation system with capillary mats, drip tubing, an automated controller, timers.
• Grand Rapids Area Schools: Small engines.
• Hastings High School: A hydroponic growing system.
• Healy Secondary School: Livestock education kits, a cow anatomy model.
• Heron Lake-Okabena School District: Livestock panels, a canine vital signs trainer, classroom chairs.
• Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School: A vacuum sealer, smoker, sausage stuffer, freeze dryer, meat scales, meat band saw.
• Le Sueur-Henderson Public Schools: A greenhouse with ventilation, heating and cooling systems.
• Mabel-Canton Middle/High School: A stand mixer, refrigerator, kitchen tools.
• Martin County West School District: Welders, plasma cutters, a CNC plasma table, welding camera, welding helmets.
• New Ulm Middle School: A year-round instructional greenhouse.
• Nicollet Public School: Stand mixers, small engines, a tool cabinet, mechanical tools.
• Southland School District: Small engines.
• Southwest MN Christian Schools: Welding bays and equipment.
• United South Central Schools: Greenhouse electrical service improvements.
• Upsala Area Schools: Precision agriculture sensor kits.
• Waseca Junior/Senior High School: Swine artificial insemination and litter processing simulators.
• Zumbrota Mazeppa Public Schools: A chicken coop and run, solar panel, feeding and watering equipment.

Wisconsin

• Alma Center-Humbird-Merrillan School District: A year-round greenhouse with ventilation, climate-control, lighting, irrigation, growing tables, benches.
• Augusta High School: Greenhouse and school garden equipment, including a wheelbarrow, germination mats, seed-starting trays, raised beds, a label maker.
• Baraboo High School: Digital microscopes, veterinary diagnostic tools, a small-animal examination table, digital veterinary scale, sanitation equipment.
• Belmont Community School District: A metal cutting saw, miter saw, tool kit, orbital sanders, garden tower, egg incubator, portable band saw, battery packs.
• Benton High School: A standalone greenhouse with plumbing and electrical connections.
• Brillion High School: Plant science instructional materials, water and soil sensors, a fertilizer injector, greenhouse potting workbench.
• Burlington High School: Greenhouse heating and ventilation repairs, workspaces, shelving, hydroponic growing towers.
• Cadott Middle and High School: A commercial freezer, refrigerator, smoker.
• Cochrane-Fountain City School District: An aquaponics system.
• Colfax High School: A beehive, honey extractor, animal fencing, quail and rabbit pens, garden equipment.
• Cumberland High School: LED grow lights.
• DeForest Area High School: Greenhouse drip and overhead irrigation systems.
• Elkhorn Area High School: Animal enclosures and carriers, veterinary medical terminology kits, suture kits.
• Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District: A commercial meat grinder, sausage stuffer, food dehydrator, vacuum packager, stainless worktables, scales, smoker.
• Glenwood City Middle & High School: Biotechnology lab equipment, including a mini centrifuge, electrophoresis chambers, power supply, micropipets, pH sensors, scales.
• Hartford Union High School: Ebb-and-flow, deepwater and drip hydroponic systems; water-quality meters; a growing bench with lights.
• Horicon High School: Swine artificial insemination, litter processing and bovine cervix training simulators.
• Markesan Middle & High School: Greenhouse equipment, a watering system, hydroponic growing units.
• Montello School District: Replacement polycarbonate greenhouse panels.
• Oconomowoc High School: A calf care simulator.
• Plum City High School: A portable sawmill.
• Prairie du Chien High School: Improved animal fencing and shelters, meat processing equipment.
• Reedsburg Area High School: A bovine breeder simulator with cervix kit, animal ear identification kit.
• River Trail School of Agricultural Science: Greenhouse benches, shelves, rolling racks, watering wands, irrigation trays, floor matting.
• Royall School District: A canine vital signs trainer, feline veterinary trainer, plant growing methods lab kit.
• Waupun High School: A recirculating aquaculture system with filtration, circulation, temperature-control equipment.
• Wayne E. Bartels Middle School and Portage High School: A greenhouse with growing benches, mist and hanging-basket irrigation.

About Compeer Giving

Compeer Giving is Compeer Financial’s robust corporate giving program, focused on philanthropic support for agriculture and rural communities across the upper Midwest. Since 2018, Compeer has distributed nearly $40 million – enhancing agriculture education and workforce, inspiring youth, empowering farmers, nurturing rural communities and equipping rural first responders. The Compeer Giving Board of Trustees is committed to creating a positive impact and supporting the vision for creating a world where agriculture and rural communities are dynamic, collaborative and thriving. More information about Compeer Giving can be found at Compeer.com/giving-back.

About Compeer Financial

Compeer Financial is a member-owned Farm Credit cooperative serving and supporting agriculture and rural communities. The $36.1 billion organization provides loans, leases, risk management and other financial services throughout 144 counties in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Based in the Upper Midwest, Compeer Financial exists to champion the hopes and dreams of rural America, while providing personalized service and expertise to clients and the agriculture industry.

Compeer Financial is the third largest cooperative of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of lending institutions supporting agriculture and rural communities with reliable, consistent credit and financial services. Learn more about Compeer Financial.

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