28 FOR THE FIRSTtime inmore than 20 years, the “Weed Olympics” was held in Canada — with more than 60 students from seven universities participating in a competition that has its roots going back decades. The Northeastern Collegiate Weed Science Society (NEWSS) Weed Contest was held on July 27, 2022, at Syngenta Canada’s Honeywood Research facility in Plattsville, Ontario. Cohosted by Syngenta and the University of Guelph (UofG), the annual event was initially planned for the summer of 2020 but, like so many other events, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The University of Guelph contingent included undergraduate and graduate teams of three who studied and prepared for months leading up to the competition and was the only Canadian university to compete against students from U.S. agricultural universities, including North Carolina State, Penn State, and Cornell. Throughout the day-long competition, the weed science students were judged on their ability to correctly identify weeds at various stages of growth and identify herbicide application in different crops based on visual symptoms; they participated in a sprayer calibration challenge that included calculating spray volume, herbicide rate, nozzle selection, boom height, and application speed; and lastly, they took part in an in-field problem-solving exercise, where competitors were presented with a real-life, in-field scenario and had to come up with solutions to solve the problem. Guelph students placed second and third in the undergraduate team categories, with graduate students Karen Reymer and Corine Bateman taking home second and third place in the individual category. REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE For University of Guelph graduate student Emily Duenk, the event was a welcome opportunity to put her knowledge and skills Weed Olympics ANNUAL COLLEGIATE EVENT HOSTED IN ONTARIO Mary Feldskov from the classroom to the test. Duenk, who graduated with a degree in agricultural science from the University of Guelph in 2020, is now studying weed control in E3 soybeans with Dr. Peter Sikkema at the Ridgetown Campus. Duenk was a returnee to UofG’s weeds team, having competed as an undergraduate student in 2019 at the North American Weed Science Contest in Champaign, Illinois. “I really liked the practical component of the contest,” says Duenk. “I am focused on my research right now, but preparing for the contest helped me broaden my understanding of other areas of weed science and agronomy in Ontario.” The team’s coach, Dr. Francois Tardif, a professor in the plant agriculture department at UofG, says that the opportunity for students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom in a practical way is one of the reasons that so many students want to get involved. Agronomy UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH’S TEAM INCLUDED UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS. PHOTO COURTESY OF SYNGENTA.
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