Video: MSU Agriculture Graduate Student Competition

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)-The competition is stiff among row crop agricultural students at Mississippi State University.

An assembly of MSU ag students listened intently Thursday(2-7-13) morning at Bost extension Center, eager for their chance to make a good showing before their peers, judges who will score them, and industry leaders.

“Weed science students, entomology students, plant pathology students, and agronomy students or crop science students,” said Jason Bond, MSU Weed Scientist.

“This is an interdisciplinary event which is very special, and we are having representatives from crop consultants, from representatives within industry as well as academic representatives. So its pretty special,” said Hunter Perry, Field Scientist.

“So the audience is a little different. So its just broadening their experience of tailoring a presentation to different audiences,” said Bond.

That gathering can take the form of a scientific conference or a competition where practitioners are asked a series of questions, sometimes outside their areas of expertise.

“So if its a consultant, well  he is going to want to know what does this mean to my grower instead of why did you analyze this data in this manner which is a question that you might get at a scientific meeting,” said Bond.

“Within the onset of some potentially new technology coming out on the market. I think you are going to see really good turn outs at these types of events from consultants and researchers and scientists alike,” said Perry.

One thing is certain, these graduate students, know they will be well prepared to become our nation’s future food producers.

“But two, they are collecting information you know that they can go and apply either in their job as an industry representative or as a consultant or as a grower,” said Bond.

“Competition is a good thing, it causes graduate students to really bring out the best in themselves,” said Perry.

Ag graduate students received first second and third place awards in two different sections of competition, and first and second place award winners in one section for PHD students.