This bill enacts the Tennessee Agricultural Innovation and Education Initiative within the department of agriculture ("department"). This initiative must prioritize benefits toward farmers and producers, students and workforce participants, and consumers and communities of this state by accomplishing all of the following goals:  Support statewide outreach, education, and storytelling related to agriculture in this state. Expand digital access to agriculture-focused workforce and learning resources. Promote market access and economic opportunity for farmers and agricultural businesses of this state. Encourage collaborations that prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders. Strengthen this state's position as a model for agriculture-centered technology and innovation. This bill authorizes the initiative to include all of the following program activities in order to accomplish such goals:  Development and distribution of agriculture-focused educational programming. Workforce training modules aligned with agriculture technology, logistics, media, and entrepreneurship. Digital tools promoting statewide agricultural literacy. Producer onboarding to e-commerce marketplaces. Youth engagement and career-path exploration in agriculture. Marketing and outreach efforts promoting state-grown products. Technical assistance for rural communities adopting digital agricultural tools. PARTNERSHIP CONTRACTS This bill authorizes the department to contract with one or more qualified private, nonprofit, or academic partners to design, operate, or administer components of the initiative. When awarding contracts, the department must consider all of the following factors:  Demonstrated experience operating agriculture-focused digital or media platforms. Capacity to deliver statewide educational programming accessible to rural and underserved communities. Evidence of partnerships with this state's farmers, schools, workforce organizations, or agricultural institutions. Documented analytics demonstrating audience reach, user engagement, or marketplace participation. Ability to support small, minority, and beginning farmers. Experience managing multi-partner, public-private initiatives. This bill requires the department to give preference to partners who have previously deployed agriculture-focused media, including on streaming platforms, online workforce or educational tools, and producer-driven marketplace solutions within this state. However, this bill must not be construed as restricting competition for state-issued contracts, nor as naming or designating any single private entity as an exclusive partner. Additionally, partners may collaborate with agriculture organizations or platforms in other states when collaboration enhances market access, workforce readiness, or innovation opportunities for agriculture in this state. This bill requires all intellectual property, software, trademarks, content libraries, platforms, and creative materials owned or developed by private partners before, during, or after participation in the initiative to remain the exclusive property of those partners. The state must not claim ownership of, or editorial control over, creative content produced by contracted partners, except to ensure alignment with the purposes of this bill and applicable present law. ANNUAL EVALUATIONS This bill requires the comptroller of the treasury, or an independent evaluator approved by the comptroller, to conduct an annual evaluation of the initiative. The evaluation must assess (i) the number of participating farmers and businesses, (ii) workforce and education outcomes, (iii) audience engagement, (iv) marketplace revenue opportunities supported, and (v) return on investment to the taxpayers of this state. This bill requires the results of the annual evaluation of the initiative to be submitted to the governor and the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives, and to be posted publicly. Contracted partners must also submit an annual performance report to the department that summarizes program activities, measurable outcomes, financial stewardship, and recommendations for improvement. FUNDING Subject to appropriations, this bill provides that it is the legislative intent that the general assembly authorize a recurring annual appropriation of $2 million to the department to implement this initiative. Such funds must be used for partner contracts, outreach and training, technology and platform integration, program administration, and evaluation and reporting. Additionally, the department is encouraged to pursue matching contributions from private, federal, philanthropic, and regional partners when feasible. RULEMAKING This bill authorizes the department to promulgate rules to effectuate this bill.