The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Collegiate Crops Team recently competed in the National Association of College Teachers in Agriculture crops contest April 17-20, hosted by the University of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho. Eighty-three students from 14 universities participated in the event. The UW-Platteville team took ninth place overall in the NACTA Judging Conference.
UW-Platteville team members included Mandi Downing, a senior from Monroe, Wisconsin; Reece Franke, a senior from Yuba, Wisconsin; Anna Hagemann, a junior from Monroe Center, Illinois; Anna Koehler, a sophomore from Jefferson, Wisconsin; Jack Lichte, a junior from Baraboo, Wisconsin; April Molitor, a senior from Reedsburg, Wisconsin; and Leah Phillips, a sophomore from Maribel, Wisconsin.
The NACTA Judging Conference consists of four parts: agronomic quiz, math practical, lab practical, and crops and weed plant and seed identification. In preparation for the contest, students put in two two-hour practices a week, starting the first week of the semester, in order to learn crop, weed plants, and seed identification.
Funding for team travel was provided by the Doug and Jean Buhler Undergraduate Travel Impact Grant, generous donations made by alumni and friends to the UW-Platteville Foundation – Soils and Crops Teams Endowment Fund, and Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies.
The UW-Platteville Collegiate Crops Team is coached by Dawn Lee, Pioneer Greenhouse supervisor and lecturer in the School of Agriculture, and Dr. Roger Higgs, professor emeritus. For further information, contact Dawn Lee at leedaw@uwplatt.edu.