The Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University is hosting an Invitational Agronomy Contest for FFA members, Saturday, March 28, 2020, in College Station. The contest will include a general exam as well as testing the students knowledge in plant identification, pest identification and soils.
The contest will be based on the Texas FFA format and rules.
More information is included on this flyer:
Writer: Beth Ann Luedeker
Contact: Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan, muthu@tamu.edu
Members of the Texas A&M weeds judging team represented our university and department well at the 2018 Southern Weed Science Society contest in Memphis, Tennessee, last month.
The 2018 Texas A&M Weeds Judging team included (l to r): Dr. Vijay Singh, asst. coach; Carson Wade, Prabhu Govindasamy, Blake Young, Cynthia Sias, Spencer Samuelson, Aniruddha Maity, Austin Kelly, James Griffin, Seth Abugho and Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan.
The Aggie A-Team finished fourth out of 12 teams representing ten colleges and universities.
Prabhu Govindasamy, a Ph.D. candidate under Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan , turned in a perfect score in the herbicide symptomology competition to share top honors with two other students from other universities. He was also the 4th high individual in the weed identification portion of the contest.
Cynthia Sias and Prabhu Govindasamy work on the written portion of the sprayer calibration event during the SWSS contest.
Seth Abhugo, another Ph.D. student under Bagavathiannan, was the second high point individual in weed identification. In this portion of the contest, team members identify 50 weeds and/or weed seeds by both the common and scientific names.
Seth Abugho looks closely at a plant’s characteristics during the weed identification portion of the SWSS contest.
Spencer Samuelson, also a Ph.D. student under Bagavathiannan, placed 11th out of the 51 graduate students who competed. He was closely followed by James Griffin, a Ph.D. student under Dr. Gaylon Morgan, who placed 12th.
“Participation in the weed judging provides our students with an excellent opportunity to learn applied aspects of weed management and to network with other weed science colleagues in the southern region,” said Bagavathiannan, assistant professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at TAMU and the team’s head coach.
James Griffin talkes to judges during the “farmer problem” portion of the contest.
Two graduate teams and an undergraduate individual from TAMU competed at the contest. Aggie Team-A consisted of Abugho, Govindasamy, Griffin and Samuelson. Team-B included Aniruddha Maity, a Ph.D. student under Bagavathiannan; Carson Wade, a Master’s student under Dr. Julie Howe; Blake Young and Cynthia Sias, both Master’s students under Bagavathiannan. The lone undergraduate was Austin Kelly, an ecosystem science major.
Assisting Bagavathiannan with the coaching this year were Dr. Vijay Singh, Spencer Samuelson, Seth Abhugo, and Prabhu Govindasamy.
The contest consists of four major events – weed identification, sprayer calibration (comprised of an individual written test and a team calibration event), crop/weed response to herbicides (symptomology), and crop/weed situation and recommendations (farmer problem) – plus a mystery event. In this year’s mystery event, the students were expected to find safety hazards caused by errors in the way a tractor and spray rig were loaded on a trailer.
Blake Young examines seeds during the weed identification portion of the contest.
Four members of the Aggie teams work on the written test during the SWSS contest.
By: Beth Ann Luedeker
Soil and Crop Sciences contact: Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan, muthu.bagavathiannan@tamu.edu
Weed Science students and their coaches traveled to Vero Beach, Florida recently to represent Texas A&M University at the Southern Weed Science Society weed contest.
Drs. Muthu Bagavathiannan, Katherine Carson, and Vijay Singh coached two graduate teams and an undergraduate team for the contest. Thirteen teams, representing nine universities competed.
The 2017 Soil and Crop Sciences Weed Science Teams with their coaches were (left to right):Front row: Muthu Bagavathiannan (Coach), Josiane Argenta (MS), Kathy Carson (Coach); Middle row: Seth Abugho (PhD), Prabhu Govindasamy (PhD), Caitlin Lakey (BS), Susie Lin (BS), Taylor Thate (BS), Kaisa Werner (MS), Jennifer Dudak (BS), Rui Liu (PhD), Vijay Singh (Coach); Back row: Hao Sheng-Lin (BS), Blake Young (MS), Spencer Samuelson (PhD)
“Last year was our first year to compete, and we didn’t do so well,” said graduate student Seth Abugho. “This was a redemption year for us!”
And redemption they received, as one graduate team placed third overall. Abugho, who is working on his Ph.D. in weed science, was the third high individual overall out of sixty-six contestants. Teammate Prabhu Govindasamy was the tenth place individual.
Spencer Samuelson and Blake Young rounded out the team, each making a substantial contribution to the team’s success.
Other graduate students who competed were: Rui “Tabby” Liu, Kaisa Werner and Josiane Argenta.
Three universities were represented in the undergraduate contest, where the Aggie team ended up on top.
Caitlin Lakey, a junior Agriculture Science major, was the high point individual overall. Hao Sheng-Lin, a senior Plant and Environmental Soil Science major, finishing as the third high individual.
Rounding out the undergraduate team were: Susie Lin, Taylor Thate, and Jennifer Dudak.
The contest is made up of five sections: weed identification, herbicide symptomology, sprayer calibration, written calibration and farmer problem solving.
In weed identification, the students must identify 100 plant species from seeds to cotyledon stage.
For herbicide symptomology, 25 different herbicides are used on six crop species and seven weed species. Contestants must identify the herbicide used based on the symptomology exhibited by the plants.
The farmer problem is a simulated problem solving situation in which the students talk to the “farmer”, and examine the field. Based on the plant symptomology and farm’s management history, the team members must determine the problem and suggest a solution.
This year’s team is sponsored by the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, FMC, and Monsanto.
Aggie Turf Club wrapped up the spring semester with the 2nd Annual Aggie Turfgrass Open, held at Briarcrest Golf Club. Twenty-four SCSC Turfgrass Science students, faculty, and staff came out and had a great time participating in the 2-person scramble event. This year, we had a 2-way tie for 1st place (+2) between the teams of Russell Rafter/Casey Reynolds and Wes Dyer/Rodrigo Martinez. A big thank you to Briarcrest superintendents Bobby Holt and Jacob Menn for hosting us as well as Brian Cloud (GCSAA) for sponsoring a closest to the pin contest at the event.
Photo L to R: Russell Rafter, Casey Reynolds, Wes Dyer, Rodrigo Martinez