A 13-year partnership with the NE Corn Board in the Innovative Youth Corn Challenge (IYCC), a youth on-farm research project has successfully engaged youth in agricultural, science-based learning. A long-term program evaluation shows that over 100 IYCC alumni have pursued agricultural or STEM careers, with nearly 300 youth participating. One Arlington FFA ag literacy video alone has nearly 1,000 views and 6 shares.
Latest evaluation results show that:
100% of current IYCC participants enhanced their ability to 1) accurately identify pests, 2) understand crop scouting procedures, 3) set-up research plots, 4) determine profitability of practices and 5) evaluate new products/practices in the field.
“I enjoyed having a project last for a long duration and seeing the end results.” -Current Participant
As a result of this long-standing program, a former Innovative Youth Corn Challenge advisor reported that, “There have been numerous individuals that have gone into ag fields. Two have went to farming, one ag retail and one agronomy.”
As a result of this long-standing program, a former Innovative Youth Corn Challenge advisor reported that, “There have been numerous individuals that have gone into ag fields. Two have went to farming, one ag retail and one agronomy.”
The winning team from the 2024 growing season was the Arlington FFA Chapter from Washington County consisting of Haydn Hegemann, Brock Lauristen, Luke Sharp, Wes Monke, Aaron Fuchs, & Ethan Hilgenkamp with Kali Agler as the team sponsor. The team decided to look at TerraMar, intended for foliar use in row crops which is intended to deliver increased nutrient uptake and enhanced stress mitigation, optimizing plant health and contributing to enhanced yield.
They planted the plot with two populations of 25K plants/acre and 30K plants/acre. On their challenge plots, they tested an application of TerraMar and a foliar fertilizer applied at the V6 growth stage and a drone application of TerraMar at the VT growth stage. Yields were the following:
Check Plots with 25K plants/acre yielded 178 bu/ac and 188 bu/acre at 30k plants/acre.
Challenge plot with 25K plants/acre with foliar fertilizer and TerraMar at V6 yielded 188 bu/acre.
Challenge plot with 30K plants/acre with foliar fertilizer and TerraMar at V6 yielded 199 bu/acre.
Challenge plot with 25K plants/acre with a V6 foliar fertilizer and TerraMar application and VT application of TerraMar yielded 188 bu/acre.
Challenge plot with 30K plants/acre with a V6 foliar fertilizer and TerraMar application and VT application of TerraMar yielded 203 bu/acre.
Considering all factors, the V6 application was the most efficient due in large part to the fact that application using a ground rig is less expensive than requiring a drone post-spray application. The team concluded that TerraMar did contribute to the plant health of the corn crop, reduce stress via lower canopy temperatures, and overall increased yields at both medium and higher planting rates, but due to the increased cost, not economically feasible at this time.
The Ag Literacy Award and Extra Mile Award was also presented to the Arlington FFA Chapter. This program is for youth aged to 8-18 as of January 1st in 2024. Prizes for participation in this project include 1st place – $1,000, 2nd place – $500, 3rd place -$250, “Extra Mile” Award $250, Ag Literacy Award $250 and $50 for completion of the project.
In 2025, there is a NEW opportunity to increase involvement for youth with this program! There will be two pathways for youth to select. The first pathway will be the traditional, “innovative” pathway in which participants choose their own treatments and manage their plots on their own. The second pathway will be the business/industry pathway; this will include youth working with an industry representative to create a treatment and assist in the implementation of the plot protocol. This new and exciting twist to the Innovative Youth Corn Challenge program enables youth who might not otherwise have physical access to cropland or industry connections. When youth sign-up, they will select which pathway they intend to take.
Contact Brandy VanDeWalle at brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu or (402) 759-3712 for details about this program. This program is possible due to the generous support of the Nebraska Corn Board.
Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 5th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops have the opportunity to learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.
Don’t know a lot about crops? Ask a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production. You can have the agronomist meet with youth a little during each meeting or outside of the meeting. This is one way to engage those youth interested in crops.
This contest will be held at the ENREC near Mead, Nebraska on July 28, 2020, pending directive health measures at that time. If a live competition is unable to occur, a virtual option will be conducted. Teams of middle school thru high school students (those completing 5-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. This year, to comply with directive health measures, the event is limited to the first five teams who sign-up!
Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three to five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.
Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. Unfortunately, there will not be a regional competition this year.
Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics many include but are not limited to, pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.
More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Register at: https://go.unl.edu/cropscoutingreg.
Teams must be registered by July 15. This program is sponsored by Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association and Nebraska Extension.
On July 23, 2019, the sixth annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth was held in which seven teams from across Nebraska competed. It was held at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska on July 23, 2019. Teams of students (those completing 5-12th grades) participated by completing a written knowledge test and seven crop scouting exercises in field plots.
The purpose of the competition was to provide students an opportunity to learn crop scouting and principles of integrated pest management (IPM) for corn and soybeans in Nebraska, to obtain knowledge and skills that will be helpful in future careers and to demonstrate newer crop scouting technologies.
Results from the 2019 competition were as follows:
First place- Colfax County 4-H (R. J. Bayer, Jestin Bayer, Austin Steffensmeier, Logan Nelson, and Brad Kratochvil)
Second place – Kornhusker Kids 4-H Club #1 (Payton & Levi Schiller, Matthew Rolf, and Kaleb Hasenkamp)
Third place – Kornhusker Kids 4-H Club #2 (Landon Hasenkamp, Ethan Kreikmeier, James Rolf, and Ian Schiller)
Also participating was
Humphrey FFA with Bryce Classen, Jacob Brandl, and Mikayla Martensen
Twin River FFA with Keaton Zarek, Kyle Kemper, Jacob Czarnick, and Landon Cuba
Auburn FFA with Kellen Moody, Austin Youngquit, Braden Gerdes, and Riley Stukenholtz
Wayne FFA with Justus Greves, Noah Lutt, Tyler Reinhardt, Elle Barnes, and Alyssa Carlson
Top-scoring teams won prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. The top two teams will represent Nebraska at the regional competition held in Iowa on August 26, 2019.
Teams were expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This included crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc.
Kornhusker Kids team determine the corn growth during the program.
More information about the crop scouting competition are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Click on the link that says, “Crop Scouting Competition”.
This program was sponsored by DuPont Pioneer, the Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association and Farm Credit Services of America in collaboration with Nebraska Extension. If you know of a company or you would are interested in sponsoring the 2020 program, please contact me at brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu.
Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 6th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops have the opportunity to learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.
Don’t know a lot about crops? Ask a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production. You can have the agronomist meet with youth a little during each meeting or outside of the meeting. This is one way to engage those youth interested in crops.
This contest will be held at the ARDC near Mead, Nebraska on July 23, 2019. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 5-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. This event is limited to the first ten teams who sign-up!
Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three to five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.
Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. Top two teams will be eligible for regional competition in August at Iowa this year.
Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics many include but are not limited to, pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.
More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Register at: https://go.unl.edu/cropscoutingreg
Teams must be registered by July 18. This program is sponsored by Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association, DuPont Pioneer, Farm Credit Services of America and Nebraska Extension.
Three states competed at the 3rd Annual Regional Youth Crop Scouting Competition on August 27, 2018 at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska. Teams of youth participated by completing six crop scouting exercises in field plots. This educational, hands-on program provided students an opportunity to learn crop scouting and principles of integrated pest management (IPM) for corn and soybeans, obtain knowledge and skills that will be helpful in future careers and to demonstrate newer crop scouting technologies.
Youth worked in teams of 4-5 to create a solution or answer to the crop scouting exercise.
The top two teams from Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana qualified for the competition. Extension faculty from Nebraska served as judges for the program and tested the teams’ knowledge on the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This included crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc.
Results from the 2018 competition were as follows:
First place- Nebraska Team, Colfax County 4-H (Logan Nelson, Brad Kratochvil, Austin Steffensmeier & Korbin Kudera)
Colfax County 4-H received top honors as the 2018 Regional Crop Scouting Competition Champion.
Second place – Indiana Team, Heritage Hills FFA (Sydney Hassfurther, Bryce Peter, Gabe Gogel, Alex Gehlhausen and Luke Rahman
Third place (Tie) – Nebraska Team of Kornhusker Kids 4-H Club of Cuming County (Payton & Levi Schiller, Matthew & James Rolf and Kaleb Hasenkamp) and Iowa Team from Clayton County (Team #1) consisting of Andre Shirbroun, Max Gibson, Matt Whittle, Cassidy Penrod and Cole Deitchier.
Also participating was Indiana Team, Eastern Hancock FFA with Jackson Beaudry, Ryan Kohlstrum, Loren Matlock, Zach Sickle and Brent Sorrell and Iowa Team from Clayton County (Team #2) which consisted of Mia Gibson, Jon Whittle, Tom Whittle, Laci Orr and Macy Weigand.
More information about the crop scouting competition are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth.
This program was sponsored by DuPont Pioneer, the Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association and Farm Credit Services of America in collaboration with Nebraska Extension. If you know of a company or you would are interested in sponsoring the 2019 program, please contact me at brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu.
Attention 4-H and FFA Youth! Do you enjoy being outside? Learning new things about crops? Considering a career involving crops, insects, diseases, soils, water or more? Do you want to help figure out how to feed our world’s growing population in a sustainable way?
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers are in high demand and will continue to be in future years. To engage youth in crop science based education, the Innovative Youth Corn Challenge (IYCC) was created as a partnership between the Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Extension. Since the Innovative Youth Corn Challenge program’s inception in 2012, 35 teams have participated in the program with 20 teams successfully harvesting and analyzing their plot data. A total of 105 youth have participated. This contest, open to 4-H members or FFA members, guides participants through all aspects of corn production, as well as agricultural careers related to corn production.
2017 participants attended the banquet in January to receive recognition for their hard work.
Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Corn Board are offering the seventh Innovative Youth Corn Challenge contest. This contest, open to 4-H members (age 10 & older as of Jan. 1st) or FFA members (in-school members), guides participants through all aspects of corn production, as well as agricultural careers related to corn production.
As a team (2 or more participants), youth will be challenged to implement a production practice different than normal to determine if they increased their yield. Economics and sustainability of the practice will also be considered. Yields, cropping history, and production information will be collected in the Corn Yield Challenge management summary.
Cash prizes and plaques are given. First place receives $1,000, second place receives $500, and third place receives $250. Sustainability, crop scouting and “extra mile” awards are also given as cash awards.
To participate in 2018, youth must complete and return an entry form by March 15th to the Fillmore County Extension Office in Geneva, NE. Forms can be downloaded after January 1st at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth/activities. For more information, contact Brandy VanDeWalle at brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu.
Kornhusker Kids 4-H Club of Cuming County and Colfax County 4-H represented Nebraska in the regional youth crop scouting competition on August 28, 2017.
In late August, seven Nebraska youth traveled to Indiana to participate in the 2nd Annual Regional Youth Crop Scouting Competition held at Purdue University’s Beck Ag Center near West Lafayette, Indiana. These youths scouted six fields for diseases, insects, abiotic/biotic disorders, weed identification and crop growth stage and development. Teams from Iowa and Indiana also competed. Nebraska teams ranked 3rd and 6th respectably. Between all three state competitions, 195 youth competed from Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana. Top two teams from each state competed at the regional competition. Congrats to all of the youth who not only networked with agronomic professionals, but also gained the most by improving life skills related to a potential career path. Next year’s regional competition will be hosted by Nebraska Extension.
While this is one program, which impacts a very small percentage of youth, it is very important to start training the next generation of ag leaders to feed our growing population. In fact, globally there is an effort to encourage youth in agricultural positions. According to the U.N. International Labor Organization (a specialized agency of the United Nations), globally there will be about 74.2 million unemployed young people (ages 15-24) in 2017 which is an increase of 3.8 million since 2007. While it is troublesome that those graduating high school and/or college are unemployed, this could present an opportunity for those in the agricultural industry. If we can create programs which spark an interest in agriculture, there is potential to attract youth to the agricultural industry.
Getting over the stigma that agriculture is a back-breaking with little room for advancement, while in fact it is quite the opposite. As educators, we should be promoting agricultural careers as “intellectually stimulating and economically sustainable” according to foodtank.com. Programs designed to encourage young people into agriculture are in numerous countries across the world including the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in the U.S., a variety of USDA initiatives and programs like Farm Africa for youth in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda or the International Fund for Agricultural Development Rural Youth Talents Program in South America. If you know of a young person undecided in his/her career path or a youth who is passionate about agriculture, let them know of the bright future and opportunities available in agriculture.
One of the statewide programs I coordinate is the Youth Crop Scouting Competition which engages youth in the crop sciences. It provides youth with real-world scenarios in crop production as they diagnose plant diseases, crop disorders, identify insects and weeds and other challenges producers currently face.
Registration is now open for the 2017 Youth Crop Scouting Competition to be held this August in eastern Nebraska. The contest is open to FFA and 4-H club members and will help those interested in crops test their skills and those new to crops better understand crop production.
To prepare for the contest youth are encouraged to learn about crop growth and development and basic crop scouting principles. If a group doesn’t know a lot about crops, they’re encouraged to ask a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production at regular meetings or outside of the meeting.
The crop scouting contest will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center (ENREC, formerly ARDC) near Mead on Aug. 1. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of three to five junior high or high school students (those completing 7-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate.
FFA Chapters or 4-H Clubs may enter a team composed of three or four participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.
Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. The top two teams will be eligible for regional competition in August at Indiana.
Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics may include but are not limited to pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.
More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online in the Youth section of CropWatch under “Crop Scouting Competition” and in the contest flyer. The program is limited to 10 teams so be sure to register soon! Teams must be registered by July 20.
Attention 4-H and FFA members! Do you enjoy being outside? Learning new things about crops? Considering a career involving crops, insects, diseases, soils, water or more? Do you want to help figure out how to feed our world’s growing population in a sustainable way?
Nebraska Extension and the Nebraska Corn Board are offering the sixth Innovative Youth Corn Challenge contest. This contest, open to 4-H members (age 10 & older as of Jan. 1st) or FFA members (in-school members), guides participants through all aspects of corn production, as well as agricultural careers related to corn production.
As a team (2 or more participants), youth will be challenged to implement a production practice different than normal to determine if they increased their yield. Economics and sustainability of the practice will also be considered. Yields, cropping history, and production information will be collected in the Corn Yield Challenge management summary.
Each year youth are surveyed and an overwhelming majority indicate an improvement in knowledge in the areas of: economic thresholds to treat pests, crop scouting procedures, financial record keeping, determining if practices on a field are profitable and how to evaluate new products/practices on a field. One youth stated, “I learned about how much time and hard work is needed to care for corn.” Several other youth enjoyed meeting new people (as a result of the Innovative Youth Corn Challenge). Another participant said, “I realize what I do today matters for tomorrow.”
Cash prizes and plaques will be given to the first, second, and third place teams. First place will receive $1,000, second place will receive $500, and third place will receive $250. Sustainability, crop scouting and “extra mile” awards will also be given, each worth $200. A webpage and FaceBook page are available with resources to help participants complete their project that can be found at cropwatch.unl.edu webpage under “related topics” titled “youth and youth activities”.
Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 3rd annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops have the opportunity to learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.
Don’t know a lot about crops? Ask a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production. You can have the agronomist meet with youth a little during each meeting or outside of the meeting. This is one way to engage those youth interested in crops.
This contest will be held at the ARDC near Mead, Nebraska on August 2, 2016. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 7-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate.
Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three or four participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.
Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place.
Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics many include but are not limited to, pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.
More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Top two teams will be eligible for regional competition in late August at Iowa.
Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 5th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops have the opportunity to learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.
On July 23, 2019, the sixth annual 
Three states competed at the 3rd Annual Regional Youth Crop Scouting Competition on August 27, 2018 at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska. Teams of youth participated by completing six crop scouting exercises in field plots. This educational, hands-on program provided students an opportunity to learn crop scouting and principles of integrated pest management (IPM) for corn and soybeans, obtain knowledge and skills that will be helpful in future careers and to demonstrate newer crop scouting technologies.
Attention 4-H and FFA Youth! Do you enjoy being outside? Learning new things about crops? Considering a career involving crops, insects, diseases, soils, water or more? Do you want to help figure out how to feed our world’s growing population in a sustainable way?
Views from VanDeWalle 