K-State’s crops judging team won the 2023 collegiate crops championship with a clean sweep of all three judging categories.
When it comes to identifying and analyzing crops, K-State is tops.
At this year’s collegiate crops contest, K-State’s team won all three judging categories: grain grading, seed analysis and identification. K-State also had the top three individual competitors. Renae Sinclair, a junior from Alamosa, Colorado, was the overall individual champion, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by K-State. Junior Landon Trout (Scott City, Kansas) and sophomore Quinten Bina (Pilsen, Kansas) were second and third.
Such a sweep of all three categories and having the top three individuals is rare. Team advisor Kevin Donnelly said that has only been accomplished four times before, all by K-State. This is the 18th win for K-State’s crops team in the past 25 years.
In the contests, participants identify 200 plant or seed samples of crops and weeds; grade eight samples of grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service standards; and analyze 10 seed samples to determine what contaminants they contain.
“These crops contests teach students the importance of hard work and dedication, valuable plant and seed identification skills, an appreciation for detail and how to be a good teammate and graceful winner or loser,” said the team’s coach, Rachel Veenstra. “The skills they learn translate into nearly any profession and the identification skills in particular serve them well in future jobs. The win is an excellent reflection of our agronomy students’ hard work and dedication to excellence, in and out of the classroom.”
