Iowa State tops 2021 National Crops Contests
Iowa State University took first place in both the 2021 American Royal Collegiate Crops Contest held in Kansas City, MO and the National Collegiate Crops Contest held in Ames, IA. Kansas State University finished second at both contests while the University of Minnesota–Crookston placed third in Kansas City and South Dakota State University placed third in Ames.
Top Individuals
The top individuals overall in Kansas City were:
- 1. Wyatt Bailey, Iowa State University
- 2. Evan Bott, Kansas State University
- 3. Trent Youngstrand, University of Minnesota–Crookston
- 4. Caitlyn Bruntz, Iowa State University
- 5. Alex Kaufmann, Kansas State University
- 6. Alex Coughlin, Iowa State University
- 7. Trevor Mullen, Kansas State University
- 8. Veronica Lundquist, University of Minnesota–Crookston
- 9. Lisa Kolseth, University of Minnesota–Crookston
- 10. Miranda Smidt, South Dakota State University
At Ames, the top individuals were:
- Wyatt Bailey, Iowa State University
- Trent Youngstrand, University of Minnesota–Crookston
- Alex Kaufmann, Kansas State University
- Evan Bott, Kansas State University
- Caitlyn Bruntz, Iowa State University
- Alex Coughlin, Iowa State University
- Miranda Smidt, South Dakota State University
- Trevor Mullen, Kansas State University
- Aubrey Weishaar, South Dakota State University
- Lisa Kolseth, University Minnesota–Crookston
First-place individuals in the three contest components in Kansas City were Evan Bott from Kansas State University in Plant and Seed Identification, Wyatt Bailey from Iowa State University in Seed Analysis, and a three-way tie of Wyatt Bailey and Trevor Mullen from Kansas State University and Alex Coughlin from Iowa State University in Grain Grading. At Ames, first place went to Evan Bott in Identification, Miranda Smidt from South Dakota State University in Seed Analysis, and Wyatt Bailey in Grain Grading.
Sponsors and Tours
The American Royal coordinated the Kansas City contest with Corteva Agriscience as the primary sponsor. Additional sponsors were CHS, Association of Official Seed Analysts, and South Dakota Crop Improvement Association. Team scholarships were provided for the top five teams in Kansas City.
The competition and awards banquet were held at the American Royal facilities. The pre-contest tour visited Children’s Mercy Park stadium, DeLong Grain, Guetterman Brothers Farms, and Deveron Corporation.
The primary sponsor of the Ames contest was the CME Group, which normally also hosts the event in Chicago, but was not able to do so this year due to COVID restrictions. Additional donors for Ames included Growmark Cooperative, the Society of Commercial Seed Technologists, and Syngenta. The top five individuals received scholarships from CME Group.
Pre-contest tours at Ames included the Iowa State Seed Science Center, Syngenta seed lab and parent seed-processing facilities, and the ALMACO manufacturing plant. The contest and awards banquet were held at the Iowa State University student union.
ASA and CSSA also provided support for both contests. The Federal Grain Inspection Service and the South Dakota Seed University Seed Testing Lab prepared the contest materials for both events.
Text © . The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.
