This year’s NASEF Farmcraft: Land Demand has officially just wrapped up. More than 1,700 learners from around 15 countries jumped into the custom Minecraft world to explore one big question: How do you balance environmental sustainability, economic prosperity, and food security in modern farming? 

Throughout the season, students discovered the many tradeoffs farmers face every day. They learned about non-food uses for crops, and explored how to balance those while also addressing food security needs. They played in the custom Minecraft world with a goal of providing residents with specified targets of food, clothing, and shelter in a certain amount of time. 

Congratulations to the following winners!

Junior Division Winners

1st place: LYNX IMARC from Sonora, Mexico

2nd place: Tornadoes #3 from Florida, United States

3rd place: Little Falls Cascades from Minnesota, United States

Senior Division Winners

1st place: I LOVE ICE CREAM from Yamaguchi, Japan

2nd place: Team T&T from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

3rd place: Eztec Buildtec from California, United States

In each category, 1st place teams received $250 USD, 2nd place received $200 USD, and 3rd place received $100 USD. 

Regular Season Raffle Winners:

All students who completed the regular season criteria were entered into a random raffle for $50 USD. Congratulations to:

1. BHS Buildtecs from California, United States
2. Electro Stallion from Georgia, United States
3. Fence Jumper Gang from Texas, United States
4. Four Directions from Florida, United States
5. Milking Machine Squad from Texas, United States
6. The Leathers from Florida, United States
7. UNC - Terra Verde from Camarines Sur, Bicol, Philippines 

Watch the full awards stream video on the NASEF YouTube.

Part 1: Build Challenges

This year’s program kicked off with three Build Challenges.

Build Challenge #1: The “What” and “Why” of Crops”
In this challenge, participants designed a farm in Minecraft that represented the crops commonly grown in their region and explained how each crop is used. Check out one of the videos from Challenge #1 below!

Build Challenge #2:Growing into Your Clothes. 

Participants explored the production of cash crops grown for the purpose of producing clothing, fabrics, and textiles. Their Minecraft farms showcased how growing these crops differs from growing food crops and which resources are needed to support their growth. Watch a featured video from Challenge #2 below!

Build Challenge #3: “Wood” You Believe We Can Grow a Home?

For the final build challenge, participants were challenged to design a farm / world in their Minecraft world to model and highlight the production and harvesting of cash crops used for the purpose of producing building materials for homes. Check out one of the videos from Challenge #3 below!

Part 2: Regular Season Challenges

The second half of the season participants played in the custom Minecraft world, where students completed three challenges. Winners earned top scores by meeting specified targets for food, clothing, and shelter in the lowest amount of time.

Regular Season Challenge #1: Focus on Food

Farmcraft helps participants learn about the challenging decisions farmers must make to provide nutritious produce to communities. In this challenge, students dedicated all of their efforts to growing crops for food production. 

Regular Season Challenge #2: Compare and Contrast

After forecasting on food, it was time to consider the other essential needs of the community, which included food, clothing, and shelter; all of which require different crops and different land uses. 

Regular Season Challenge #3: Maximize Your Strategy

Just like in the real world, farming is done best when everyone does their part to reach their goals. This last challenge, students optimized their plans to meet their goals as effectively as possible. 

Thank you to our special guests, including experts and students, who joined us on the livestream:

• Jon Wogman, World Food Prize Foundation Director II, Global Youth Programs and Partnerships
• Dr. Carrie Settles Liver’s and students Nakariana and Layla from Brookwood High School in Georgia, United States.
• Team Buildtecs from Barstow High School in California, United States
• Mr. Edgar and students from James Madison High School from Texas, United States
• Mr. Espinili and students from UNC Elementary from Naga City, Philippines
• Jeremiah Fallin and students from Boys and Girls Club from Oregon, United States
• Marcella Szymanski, Agriculture Advocates LLC
• Adam Cornish, Biotechnology Director, Agriculture Advocates LLC

You can view all the previous livestreams and challenge overviews on the Farmcraft: Land Demand YouTube playlist. 

Thank you to all the participants who joined us for Farmcraft: Land Demand! Farmcraft has traditionally been offered in the first months of the year, and many educators told us that they’d like to implement it next semester. We hear you, so we’ll be offering another Land Demand season beginning in January 2026! Stay tuned to the Farmcraft page for more details.