HCC Ag team comes out victorious at competition

By Paige Brier

The Hutchinson Community College Crops Team competed at Kansas State University on March 13. The team placed first in the two-year division and also had individuals place in various events.

The Crops Team had 13 students participate in the competition.

The competition is held in four parts. The first part of the event is plant identification. Students had to identify 150 plants and various stages of growth.

The second part is agronomic math. Students have to solve agronomic mathematic problems involving crops and soil. The third part is the agronomic quiz. This is like a final exam to test the student’s knowledge in agriculture.

The final part is the “Lab practical.”

Competitors view and try to identify up to 50 kinds of agricultural equipment and tell how it is used. They also try to identify up to 50 kinds of crop insects and up to 50 diseases on crop specimens.

Four students placed in the individual competitions: Andrew Archer, McPherson, First Place. Joseph Neville, Andale, Second Place. Spencer Yenni, Lindsborg, got Fourth Place. Jon Corn, Inman, got Sixth Place.

Before the KSU competition, the team placed in the Iowa State University competition as well: Neville, First Place; Corn, Second, and Yenn, Third.

Steve Sears, team coach, was pleased.

“There were 90 competitors from ten different colleges, and our team represented HCC very well,” Sears said.

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