The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension and the Nebraska Corn Board will offer the second annual Innovative Youth Corn Challenge contest this growing season.
This contest, open to 4-H members (age 10 & older as of Jan. 1) or FFA members (in-school members), will guide youth through all aspects of corn production, as well as agricultural careers related to corn production. As a team, 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.
Goals of the contest are: achieve new, innovative, and economically feasible crop production methods to improve yields; provide research data for producers to implement in their operations; distribute data to corn producers, researchers, and agri-businesses for decision making purposes; introduce youth to a variety of agronomic professionals, including corn producers.
As a team, youth will work with an adult mentor throughout the process. Mentors can be extension faculty, ag teachers, or other qualified agronomy professionals.
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. A data completion and innovation award will also be given. Because of persistent drought, an addition this year will be a “limited resource” award which will be based on participants achieving a higher yield with limited inputs. This could be limited water, management practices, fertilizer, other inputs, etc.
To participate, youth must complete and return an entry form by March 1 to the Fillmore County Extension Office in Geneva. Forms can be downloaded at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth/activities. For more information, contact Brandy VanDeWalle at brandy.vandewalle@unl.edu, Aaron Nygren at anygren2@unl.edu or Amy Timmerman at atimmerman2@unl.edu.