Youth Crop Scouting Competition

Event Date(s)

August 4, 2025

Event Time

8:00 AM - 1:30 PM

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Location

University of Illinois Crop Sciences Research and Education Center

A competition that prepares youth for life beyond the field.

For youth looking towards a career in agriculture, specifically within the agronomy sector, the Illinois Youth Crop Scouting Competition with University of Illinois Extension is a perfect stop along the way.

Not only can competition experience be added to a resume, but it is a unique opportunity for high school students interested in agriculture to work as a team to explore and help solve today’s crop-related issues. The competition is a platform for students to demonstrate their expertise, skills, and knowledge towards becoming future agriculture professionals.

Teams are scored by judges, including University faculty, graduate students, specialists, and Extension educators. Cash prizes for the top four scoring teams. The top two teams will also advance to compete against students in other states and represent Illinois at the regional competition.

2025 Competition Details

Aug. 4 | Register by July 3
All teams will be required to provide completed release forms, by physical or digital copies, turned in prior to the competition, or the team will not be allowed to participate.
Location: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Crop Sciences Research and Education Center, 4202 South First St., Champaign
Agenda: 8:00 a.m. Check-In | 8:30 a.m. Competition Begins | 1:30 p.m. Competition Ends
Lunch, beverages, and snacks will be provided
Cash prizes awarded to the four top-scoring teams: 1st $500, 2nd $300, 3rd $200, 4th $100
For questions or accommodation requests, please contact Meagan Diss, mcdiss@illinois.edu; 217-300-5386

About Youth Crop Scouting

Understanding what is happening in today’s farm fields strengthens relationships with growers and provides the advantage of strategically making the best management decisions to maximize yield and profit. The competition is a platform for students to demonstrate their expertise, skills, and knowledge towards becoming future agriculture professionals.

All teams rotate through 10 outdoor stations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign South Farm fields to test their skills hands-on with topics such as identifying weeds, insects, and diseases, identifying the growth stages of corn and soybean plants, assessing abiotic disorders, pesticide application, and integrated pest management.

Team Resources

Once registered, teams should work with their coach to study regularly leading up to the competition. Review the below materials to help prepare.

IPM Curriculum: Integrated pest management presentations are available in both PDF and PowerPoint formats and include notes. Provided by Iowa State University.
Virtual Crop Scout School: The Virtual Crop Scout School consists of webinars from crop protection specialists at 11 Midwest universities and is offered through the Crop Protection Network. The series is free, registration is required to access.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to: identification and information about crop diseases, insects, weeds, abiotic disorders, herbicide injury, growth stages, parts of the plant, degree day computation, sprayer calibration, and sprayer issues. There will also be a test on crop scouting.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact

Keywords

Program Areas

Commercial Agriculture