Looking for a way to unite youth club members? Running out of ideas for meetings?  If you answered “yes,” help is on the way!  Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 5th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska Youth.

Youth interested in crops have the opportunity to learn about crop growth and development as well as basic crop scouting principles. If you don't know a lot about crops, consider asking a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production. The agronomist meet with youth a little during each meeting or outside of the meeting.

This contest will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center near Mead on July 26. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 5th-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. This event is limited to the first 10 teams who sign up.

Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three or five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.

Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. The top two teams will be eligible for regional competition in August at Nebraska.

Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes

• crop staging;
• looking for patterns of crop injury; and
• disease, insect and weed seedling identification.

Other topics may include pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.

More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register are available at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Teams must be registered by July 18.

This program is sponsored by the Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association, DuPont Pioneer, Farm Credit Services of America, and Nebraska Extension.