Sydney students win Graingrowers Crops Competition
The winning University of Sydney team at the 2019 Graingrowers Crops Competition in Roseworthy, South Australia.
A team from the University of Sydney Institute of Agriculture team won the 2019 Graingrowers Crops Competition held at the Roseworthy campus of the University of Adelaide this week.
In the team category the University of Sydney claimed first prize, followed by US Champions, Kansas State University and Charles Sturt University in third place.
In the individual category, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture students Meg Brown and Zali Mahony were awarded second and forth place, respectively.
In April 2020, Meg and Zali will undertake a fully-funded 10-day international study tour supported by Graingrowers to compete in the US Collegiate Crops Contest held in Kansas, USA.
“This competition is an exciting opportunity to network and experience learning and working physically in the field as well as collaborating with team-mates. I am so excited and look forward to going to the USA!” Ms Brown said.
Associate Professor Daniel Tan from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences said: “Our crop and soil science curriculum are world class and produce excellent graduate qualities such as practical agronomic knowledge, teamwork and leadership skills which enable our team to perform well in the field. This is also the reason Sydney agriculture graduates are so highly employable."
Participants from around Australia and the world took part in the competition, including students from Kansas State University (USA), South Dakota State University (USA), La Trobe University, Charles Sturt University, the University of Sydney, the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia and the University of Bologna (Italy).
The students in the winning Sydney team were Meg Brown, Zali Mahony, Mikaela Tilse, Belinda Nielsen, Prue Gordon, Sarah Dring, Tanya Ponggun, Lakshmi Gudipati, Haruto Ima, James Hunt and Matteo Cheodarci, an exchange student from the University of Bologna.
The team was coached by student mentors, Jeremy Prananto and Jonathon Moore and staff members, Drs Adriana and Sammi Hoxha and Associate Professor Daniel Tan.
The University of Sydney students were sponsored by a University of Sydney Student Live Grant.