�ձ�av��Ƶ

Story by Kay Norton

The �ձ�av��Ƶ Collegiate Crop Judging Team brought home numerous high scores at recent regional and national collegiate competitions.

Regional competition for the Collegiate Crops Judging Contest in Platteville, Wisconsin, earned the team a second-place overall team score. The three team members also brought home individual awards: Alexa Blume, a sophomore agronomy major from Elbow Lake, Minnesota, placed second; Evan Olson, a sophomore agricultural science major from Forbes, North Dakota, placed third; and Lily Green, a senior agronomy major from Castalia, Ohio, placed fifth.

This was the 50th annual regional contest encompassing the Upper Midwest/North Central Region.

The team then traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Collegiate Crops Judging National Contest, presented by the American Royal and Corteva Agriscience. Here the �ձ�av��Ƶ team placed fourth overall. Individual winners were Olson winning eighth place and Blume placing 10th.  Freshman Aaron Fuchs, an agronomy major from Arlington, Nebraska, attended as team alternate.

The Collegiate Crops Judging Contest is an opportunity for students to showcase their skills pertaining to grain grading, plant and seed identification and seed analysis. Preparation for these contests teaches students applicable knowledge regarding evaluating crops for quality, certification, viability and marketing. The two-day national event, now in its 91st year, included industry tours around Kansas City that broadened students’ knowledge of careers in crops science, agronomy and agriculture innovation.

Faculty team coach Madalyn Shires, assistant professor in the Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science and �ձ�av��Ƶ Extension specialist in plant pathology, said the competition consists of three parts: grain grading, seed analysis and identification of crop and weed plants and seeds.

“The contest is designed to address specific parts of the agronomic world,” Shires said, “which gives the students a variety of experiences that are directly applicable to their preparation for careers in the industry.”

The team then traveled to Illinois to participate in the Chicago Collegiate Crops Contest, presented by the CME Group. At this competition, the team of Green, Blume and Fuchs took third overall, with Blume scoring ninth, Green taking 10th and Fuchs earning 14th in individual scoring.

“The Kansas City and Chicago contests represent the national finals of collegiate crops competition for the year,” Shires said. “While preparing, students learn, in great depth, many skills that can be valuable regardless of their chosen profession in agronomy.”

Shires was assisted by graduate coach Anna Hagemann Lagerhausen, a master’s degree student in plant science and a former undergraduate Crops Judging Team member.