Editor’s note: Semillero de Ideas extended its submission deadline until Nov. 30. This story has been updated to reflect that. Prize money was also announced. For further details, see our update at: goodfruit.com/semillero-de-ideas-boosts-prize-money-for-second-contest/

Semillero de Ideas, a Washington nonprofit helping farmworkers commercialize their own inventions, will take submissions for its second innovation contest until Nov. 30.

This year’s competition, called “Tus Ideas Cuenten (Your Ideas Matter), Manzana Challenge 2024,” invites farm laborers to submit ideas for how to improve the apple harvest for themselves, their employer and the environment.

This year’s prize will top last year’s $1,000, said Erik Nicholson, executive director of Semillero de Ideas.

“Last year, we were humbled by the number of workers with impactful ideas,” Nicholson said in a news release. “We got busy and raised the funds needed to offer more prizes and larger awards.”

The Pasco-based organization will visit farmworkers throughout Eastern Washington, offering support and workshops to those interested in submitting their inventions. The contest is open to teams.

In 2023, Luis Barrera, a Mattawa farmworker, won a $1,000 prize with his submission of a padded cherry-picking harness that reduces worker injury and improves productivity. Semillero de Ideas has been helping Barrera patent and market his invention.

For more information about the challenge, visit the organization’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SemilleroDeIdeas.CentroDeInnovacionDeCampesinos.

—by Ross Courtney