2009 Judging Teams
* The Kansas State University Crops Team has again claimed the title as national champion, a feat that K-State teams have accomplished in eight of the last 11 years. The team won both the Kansas City Board of Trade and Chicago CME Group Collegiate Crops contests to win the 2009 national championship. K-State placed first at both Kansas City and Chicago in all three phases of the contest: plant and seed identification, grain grading and seed analysis. Such a sweep of all three contest parts at both contests is a very rare event and represents one of the top rankings ever accomplished by a K-State team, according to Kevin Donnelly, K-State professor of agronomy and team coach. The Kansas City and Chicago contests took place Nov. 17 and 21, respectively. Nov. 2009
* For the eighth time in the last 11 years, the K-State Crops Team won first place in the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture national crops contest. This year's event was April 17 at the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, Ohio, and featured 17 teams from two- and four-year schools. K-State placed first in the laboratory practical, math practical, and plant and seed identification parts of the contest, and second in the agronomic quiz. Team coach is Kevin Donnelly, professor of agronomy. May 2009
* The K-State Soil Judging Team won the National Soil Judging Contest for the second year in a row, taking first place overall and first in group judging. Twenty-three teams from around the country competed at the 2009 event, March 26-April 3, at the host school, Missouri State University. The K-State team is coached by Mickey Ransom, professor of agronomy, who is assisted by Paul Hartley, graduate student in agronomy. Earning individual honors were Kelsey McGie, junior in milling science management, Iola, who placed ninth in individual judging; and Kim Kerschen, freshman in agronomy, Garden Plain, who took 12th place in individual judging. April 2009
