The Illinois Youth Crop Scouting Competition is a one-day contest that gives teams of students from across the state the chance to test their knowledge live and in the field. Knowing how to properly scout corn, soybean, or any commercial crop field is essential to understanding plant growth and identifying potential threats to higher yields and overall profitability per acre. Scouting gives farmers a heads-up about what is happening in the field starting from crop growth stages to the presence of insects, weeds, or diseases. The awareness allows them to strategically apply the best management decisions.

Student teams of 2 to 5 high-school-aged youth with an adult coach 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 injury, pesticide application, and integrated pest management. 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.

For event details or to register teams by June 30, visit go.illinois.edu/CropScouting. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, contact Meagan Diss at mcdiss@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet access needs.