The state’s largest general farm organization, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF), today (Tuesday), launched the ANF Great Grocery Giveaway in partnership with the University of Iowa Athletics Department and Hy-Vee. The grocery sweepstakes invites Iowans to meet today’s farmers through video tours of their farms and register for a chance to win free groceries for a year worth $5,000.

Iowans can register for a chance to win by visiting www.americaneedsfarmers.org and taking virtual farm tours; each video they watch earns an entry in the ANF Great Grocery Giveaway while giving them an up close and personal look at five Iowa farm families.  Website visitors can register with each of the five farmers each day of the sweepstakes, which kicked off today, Farm Bureau Day at the Iowa State Fair, and runs until noon October 31st, 2013. The web-based farm video tours feature five diverse Iowa family farmers who grow corn or soybeans and raise pigs, beef or dairy cows.

David Rydberg, a cattle rancher from Essex, is one of the featured farmers in the ANF Great Grocery Giveaway. He says “We’re excited to be a part of this because as a family farmer, I believe in the value of transparency and education; most people who enjoy beef today don’t live on a farm, but they want to know how we farm, how we raise our animals and how we keep them safe and healthy.”

Following the sweepstakes, one lucky winner will be chosen at random for $5,000 in free groceries from their local Hy-Vee.