Garrett Kuss and Don Lee, coaches for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Crops Judging Team, are excited.
The team tied for seventh-place overall for the four-year university division at the national 2023 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Conference hosted by Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, April 12-15. Thirteen teams from across the country competed in the four-year university division.
Team members include junior plant and landscape systems majors Daniel Frey, Logan Nelson, Kailey Ziegler, Zach Nienhueser and Will Stalder, and sophomore Maggie Walker.
“As a team, we were happy with how we performed but immediately talked and workshopped how we can do better next year,” said Kuss, Doctor of Plant Health graduate student. “As a young team with both of us coaches in our first year, we believe this is just the beginning of how well we can perform in the future.”
Designed to prepare students for a future career in agronomy, the crops judging contest included an agronomic exam, a math exam, a plant and seed identification exam and a lab practical. The agronomic exam covered general agronomic knowledge over everything involved in raising crops from soil properties, plant anatomy and growth, pest management and cropping systems to field mapping and sensing technology to weather, biofuels and carbon management in agriculture. The math exam covered mathematical problems related to agronomy. The plant and seed identification exam tested students’ knowledge of 140 crops and weeds species where students were responsible for knowing the seed, young and mature stages of the plants. The lab practical included questions on various agronomy related disciplines such as weed science, entomology and plant pathology.
“This trip and competition overall were an amazing opportunity to see how agriculture can change throughout regions as well as the similarities we all share in combatting problems such as water, pests and nutrient management,” Kuss said. “The team was able to get an up-close look at California's ag systems including citrus, almonds and grapes.”
Margarito Morales, a Nebraska agronomy and horticulture online master's student from California, organized a tour of Kings River Packing for the team. They saw the entire process from harvest to distribution of citrus fruits from the central valley, including oranges, grapefruit, clementines and lemons. They also toured an almond farm and learned about the boom the almond industry has seen over the last 20 years and the challenges they are facing today with excess supply.
Students interested in joining the university crops judging team are encouraged to contact Kuss at gkuss2@huskers.unl.edu and Lee, professor of agronomy and horticulture, at dlee1@unl.edu.
For more information about Nebraska’s Crops Judging Team see https://agronomy.unl.edu/crops-judging-team.
