The UW-Platteville Crops Team recently placed second in both the Kansas City (86th annual) and Chicago (91st annual) Collegiate Crops Contests. Kansas State placed first in both contests. UW-Platteville was followed by Iowa State, Purdue, Virginia Tech, South Dakota State, Oklahoma State, University of Minnesota-Crookston, Murray State, UW-Madison and Michigan State.
Audrey Pelikan, a sophomore soil and crop science major from Jefferson, Wisconsin, placed fifth and sixth overall in both contests. She placed third, respectively, in the commercial grain grading phase in Chicago and fourth in the seed analysis and identification phases in Kansas City. Shannon Lamb, a junior soil and crop science major from Waunakee, Wisconsin, placed seventh and eighth, respectively, overall in both contests. She placed third and fifth in grain grading in the two contests.
Anastasia Kurth, a sophomore soil and crop science major from Geneva, Illinois, placed fourth and fifth individually in grain grading in both contests. All three UW-Platteville participants achieved All-American status in commercial grain grading.
The 2019 competitions represented the 50th year in which the team has participated in the two historic contests. The UW-Platteville team has placed second on 28 occasions and first on 10 occasions over the 50 years.
The UW-Platteville team alternates were Kayla Rayburn, a junior soil and crop science major from Stillman Valley, Illinois; Keegan Bruins, a junior agribusiness major from Brandon, Wisconsin; and Bria Sweeney, a junior soil and crop science major from Fitchburg, Wisconsin. The team coaches were Dr. Andrew Cartmill and Dr. Roger Higgs.
Major sponsors of the contests included the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, the American Royal and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.