MODESTO, Calif. – Northeast Community College students finished in second place in sweepstakes and earned 30 awards for two-year colleges at the 2023 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference. Black Hawk Community College (Ill.) won with the highest combined team score for two-year colleges.
Northeast was one of 19 community colleges and 25 four-year teams to compete in the April 12-15 conference held at Modesto Junior College, Modesto, Calif.
Northeast placed first overall in the written exam and calculations and second in the group exercise in the Agribusiness Contest. Team members include Agribusiness majors Natalie Brabec, Leigh, Mariah Frevert, Wayne, Cole Rollins, Blair, and Jae Seger, Amherst.
Sager placed first Overall on the Written Exam and Calculations. Brabec placed second Overall on the Written Exam and 3rd in Calculations. Frevert placed fifth Overall and third on the Written Exam.
In the Ag Communications Contest, Frevert, Rollins, Seger, and Isaac Noyd, an Agribusiness major from Stromsburg, placed third Overall and second on the Group Exercises.
In Ag Computers, team members Brabec, Noyd, Kathryn Kuhlman, an Agribusiness major from Creighton, and Cody North, a Diversified Agriculture major from Winside, placed first in PowerPoint & Presentation and second Overall, in Excel, and in Written Exam.
Individually, North placed first in PowerPoint & Presentation, and second Overall and in Excel, and third in Written Exam. Brabec placed fifth Overall and second on Written Exam. Kuhlman placed fifth in Excel. Noyd placed fourth in PowerPoint & Presentation and Written Exam.
In the Ag Mechanics Contest, Northeast placed first in Machine Practicum, second in Welding Written, third in Electrical Written, fourth Overall and in Individual Practicum, and fifth in Hydraulics. Team members include Mechanized Agriculture majors Jacob Devine, Albion, Victor Mattilio, Willow Street, Penn., Cody Nelson, Ansley, and Collin Konecky, an Agriculture Transfer major from Ithaca.
Individually, Nelson placed fourth Overall and third in Welding Written and Machine Practicum. Mattilio placed first in Machine Practicum and fourth in Electrical Written and Welding Written. Devine placed fifth in Welding Written.
In the Crops Contest, team members were Spencer Batenhorst, a Precision Agriculture major from Wisner, Kelcie Hall, an Agronomy and Agribusiness major from Norfolk, Cody Hubl, an Agronomy and Precision Agriculture major from Lawrence, and Kylie Jerabek, an Agronomy major from Ashton, placed first in Agronomic Quiz and Math Practical, and second Overall, in Crop & Weed Plant & Seed Identification, and in Lab Practical.
Individually, Hubl placed first in Agronomic Quiz and in Math Practical, second Overall, fourth in Lab Practical. Hall placed third Overall and in Math Practical, and fifth in Lab Practical. Jerabek placed fourth in Lab Practical and fifth Overall and in Agronomic Quiz.
The Dairy Judging team placed fourth Overall, in Placings, and in Reasons. Team members include Agriculture Transfer majors Ethan Becker, Hartington, Morgan Earl, Palmer, Keri Sanne, Norfolk, and Lydia Fitzke, an Animal Science and Agribusiness major from Glenvil. Other students participating were Andrew Cone, an Animal Science major from Nickerson, and Brekyn Papineau, an Agriculture Transfer major from Marquette.
In Horticulture, the team placed first Overall and in Placings and second in Written Exam and Identification. Team members include Horticulture and Golf Course Management major Quade Hunt, Burwell, Hayden Larabee, Valentine, Javian Scheele, Ogallala, and Kaleb Wragge, who is also an Agriculture Transfer major from Custer, So. Dak.
Individually, Larabee placed first in Placings and second Overall and in Identification. Wragge placed first in Written Exam and third Overall and in Identification. Hunt placed second in Placings.
The Knowledge Bowl team of Frevert, Larabee, North, Rollins, and Seger placed first in the competition.
Noyd’s poster in the Empirical Division in the Poster Competition placed first Overall.
In Livestock Judging, the team from Northeast placed second in Goat Judging, fifth in Sheep Judging, and sixth Overall. Team members include Becker, Cone, Earl, Papineau, and Sanne. Also participating was Fitzke.
In Professional Portfolio, the team of Brabec, Frevert, Kuhlman, and Papineau placed second Overall.
Individually, Kuhlman placed first in the Plant Science Division and fourth Overall. Frevert placed first in the Agribusiness Division. Brabec placed third in the Agriculture Communications/Agriculture Education Division. Papineau placed fifth in the Animal Science Division.
In the Soils Contest, the team of Hall, Hubl, Jerabek, and North, placed third on Pit 4 and fourth Overall. Individually, Jerabek placed fifth in Pit 4. Also competing was Kuhlman.
The Northeast students were accompanied on the trip by instructors Brandon Keller, Mike Roeber, Sarah Sellin, and Mike Zierke.
In addition to participating in the contests, the group toured the Dandelion Chocolate Factory in San Francisco, and visited the Golden Gate Bridge. The students and instructors also had the opportunity to participate in tours in the Modesto area. The sites toured included Diamond Nuts, Ratto Brothers Fresh Produce, Traina Foods, Stewart and Jasper Orchards, Aemetis Biofuels, and the Turlock Irrigation District. They also explored sites in the Modesto area, including a visit to Yosemite National Park.
The College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho, will host the 2024 NACTA Judging Conference in April 2024. Northeast Community College hosted the judging conference in 2018.
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