The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Crops Judging Team, including Jonathon Jahnke (front row, from left), Cody Kuester, Cody McClellan, Blake Anderson, Samantha Teten (back row, from left), Rodger Farr, Collin Thompson, Bryant Biskup, Kolby Grint, Bryan Wietjes and team coach Adam Striegel, took top honors at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Conference national collegiate competition at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, April 6.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Crops Judging Team took top honors at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Conference national collegiate competition at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, April 6. The team competed in three of the 13 contests including Crops Judging, Precision Agriculture and the Knowledge Bowl.
“Overall, I don’t think I could have asked for a better NACTA,” said team coach Adam Striegel, Doctor of Plant Health and agronomy graduate student. “This was our first appearance as an organized crops team. To immediately compete with other programs which have been established for many years, is remarkable, and I am extremely excited to see how we compete next year.”
Nebraska placed second in the Precision Agriculture contest where students were quizzed over harvester settings as well as planter and sprayer calibration and agronomic math. Official team members were Cody McClellan, Blake Anderson, Jonathon Jahnke and Bryant Biskup.
Jonathon Jahnke
Jahnke, a senior mechanized systems management major, took first-place individual overall out of 52 students in the Math Exam component of the Crops Judging competition. The Nebraska team placed third. Students were quizzed over plant and seed identification of 140 species of crops and weeds, general agronomic knowledge, agronomic math, and given a lab practical which covered the identification of insects, diseases and machinery; machinery components; agronomic inputs and pesticides; abiotic damage identification; plant staging and grain staging. Official university team members included McClellan, Anderson, Jahnke and Cody Kuester. Also competing were Biskup, Bryan Wietjes, Samantha Teten, Collin Thompson and Kolby Grint.
The university team placed third in the Knowledge Bowl where students were quizzed on agronomy, food science, animal science, agricultural economics and other related disciplines. Official team members were McClellan, Anderson, Jahnke, Biskup and Thompson.
Students interested in the university crops judging team are encouraged to contact Striegel.