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Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Five agricultural science undergraduate students at The University of Western Australia have excelled in the 2015 Australian Universities Crop Competition held in New South Wales last week.

Third-year students Mr Jaxon Carter, Mr Luke Edwards, Ms Grace Williams, Ms Danelle Manning and Mr Nick Eyres represented UWA at the three-day competition, and placed third amongst university teams from across Australia and the United States.

The annual competition, organised by Grain Growers Limited puts tertiary agricultural students through their paces in a mixture of theory and hands-on tests covering agronomics and farm business management.

UWA team captain Mr Nick Eyers said the competition was a great experience that provided an in-depth and practical understanding of the cropping systems around the country, and an opportunity to see new technologies and practices put into the ground.

“We saw a whole range of crops, rainfall patterns and soil types that we would never dream of in our WA grainbelt,” Nick said.

“It was an awesome opportunity to see it all first hand with other like-minded students from different farming environments, and while they’re all there to compete, having your exam room in an old shearing shed is not your typical high-pressure environment!”

To prepare for the competition, students were mentored by past competitors and sought additional coaching from their UWA agriculture professors.

Professor Tony O’Donnell, Dean of UWA’s Faculty of Science said the Faculty has committed to provide financial assistance to send a team of students to the competition each year.

“Competitions such as the national crops competition help to enrich and enhance the learning experience of our students,” Professor O’Donnell said.

“The students returned from the Australian Universities Crop Competition as confident individuals keen to work together to contribute to Australian agriculture and global food security.”

Media references

Professor Tony O’Donnell (+61 8) 6488 8703

Diana Boykett (Communications Officer, The UWA Institute of Agriculture)

(+61 8) 6488 3756 / (+61 4) 04 152 262

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