Beringer wins Grow Your Future contest

     The $7,500 Lillie Beringer won for taking first place in the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Grow Your Future contest will go to good use for her business, Beringer Family Farms Beef of Cascade.

     The funds will go toward a walk-in freezer.

     “I’m at the point where I’m limiting myself in growth from my lack of freezer space,” the 25-year-old said, “so I’m very excited to use the funds to increase my freezer capacity.”

     Her business, which was launched just over a year ago, sells direct-to-consumer Angus beef – raised on the Beringer farm, and processed and federally inspected at a locker in Wisconsin – through local pickup and “beef boxes” which she ships across the United States.

     Beringer entered the contest in September 2021 by submitting a video to YouTube that answered initial questions provided by IFBF.

     That earned her a spot among five semifinalists. Through an online voting process in December, those five were narrowed to three, and Beringer made that cut as well, into the finals.

     The three finalists then attended the IFBF Young Farmer Conference, Jan. 28-29, and competed in a “pitchoff,” giving speeches of 5-7 minutes about their businesses before three judges and about 500 attendees of the conference.

     “They had a rubric of what the judges would be judging you on, so you pinpointed your speech around making sure you answered those questions,” Beringer said.

     The questions included those on how the business generates income, what makes it unique, how the owner planned to use the funds, and more.

     Audience members then had an hour to vote, and the judges weighed in as well.

     “I put a lot of time into my speech. I felt really good about how I did, so no matter where I placed, I wasn’t going to be mad about it,” Beringer said.

     When she did win, she said: “I was a little shocked, and very excited. It was hard to process it all.”

     She received $7,500. The runner-up earned $5,000; third place was good for $2,500.

     In addition to the walk-in freezer, on Jan. 20 – the one-year anniversary of when she opened for business – Beringer said she hopes the launch of a farm club subscription option will also help her business.

     “It ships a box every 30 or 60 days,” she said. “By being a subscription member, you get to choose what cuts you want in the box. A lot of times I’m sold out of cuts super fast. So farm club members would be able to have first dibs at everything.”

     It’s another way Beringer said she hopes to keep her business growing.

     “Everything that I sell is through online marketing on my social media pages, and all my sales are through my website (beringerfamilyfarms.com),” she said.