When it comes to all things big and small in forage production and management, University of Wisconsin-River Falls students definitely know their subject well.
A team of four UW-River Falls students placed first in the National Forage Bowl Competition, an event in conjunction with the American Forage and Grassland Council that occurred in Mobile, Ala., Jan. 7-8. UW-River Falls was the smallest university in the competition and topped large Division I schools, including other event finalist Purdue University.
UW-River Falls team members include Ryan Bottema, a sophomore from Maple Grove, Minn., majoring in horticulture; Jace Heiman, a senior from Kewaunee majoring in crop and soil science; Tucker Lundquist, a senior from St. Paul, Minn., majoring in crop and soil science; and Hannah Schull, a sophomore from Medford, Minn., majoring in crop and soil science.
Yoana Newman, associate professor of crop science who coaches the UW-River Falls Forage Bowl Team, said her students’ smarts combined with a strong work ethic landed them the national victory.
“What can I say? This is an excellent group of students,” Newman said when asked how her students won the competition. “They are a very motivated group and are very competitive. They put in a lot of work, a lot of study, to prepare for this event.”
Team members acknowledged the many hours they spent preparing for the Forage Bowl. The students, who are members of a forage experiential learning class that Newman teaches, said learning the many details they would be tested on as part of the competition was daunting. They often met outside of class to prepare for the event.
“We studied very hard to prepare for the event in whatever ways we could find,” Heiman said.
The Forage Bowl competition is modeled after the popular TV game show Jeopardy, in which contestants give answers in the form of questions about different categories. The UW-River Falls team won the first event stage, a plant identification exam, building an initial lead. They defeated other schools in the Jeopardy-like portion of the competition, advancing to the final against Purdue University.
When he and his UW-River Falls teammates won the final, Bottema felt a moment of disbelief, then exultation. Team members shook hands with the Purdue University team before wrapping each other in congratulatory hugs.
“It feels great that the smallest school won, not only because we won, but also because the other teams were cheering for us too,” Bottema said.
While UW-River Falls was the smallest school in the event, it has perhaps the biggest reputation, courtesy of having won the previous three Forage Bowl competitions it competed in, from 2019-21. The coronavirus pandemic wiped out the competition in 2022, and last year UW-River Falls did not compete in the event.
This year’s team said they felt pressure to live up to the success of past UW-River Falls performances. They credited Newman for their success, saying her detailed knowledge of plants of all sorts and her ability to teach them was invaluable.
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Categories: Wisconsin, Crops, Education