Renae Sinclair, a junior at Kansas State University and from Alamosa, was the individual champion at the recent national Collegiate Crops Contest held in Chicago.
Sinclair is the daughter of Matt and Eva Sinclair. She graduated from Sangre de Cristo High School in 2021 and is majoring in agronomy, with a consulting and production option, with a minor in Ag business at KSU.
Her performance in the highly competitive world of collegiate crops judging helped lead Kansas State to the national team title. She led a 1-2-3 sweep by K-State. Junior Landon Trout (Scott City, Kansas) and sophomore Quinten Bina (Pilsen, Kansas) were second and third, respectively.
The 2023 Kansas State squad led by Sinclair rolled to the national title in mid-November, winning the Kansas City American Royal Collegiate Crops Contest on Nov. 14 and the Chicago Collegiate Crops Contest on Nov. 18.
K-State teams have now won the collegiate crops contest championship outright in 18 of the past 25 years. In the 100-year history of crops competition, K-State has won or shared the title 32 times. Texas Tech is second best with 21 titles.
K-State’s national title was powered by first-place finishes in all three judging categories: grain grading, seed analysis and identification.
“Such a sweep of all three contest components and the top three individual placings at both contests is very rare, and has only been accomplished four times before, all by K-State,” said Kevin Donnelly, a former head coach who is now an adviser for the team. “This year’s team score was the fifth-highest ever in the Chicago contest.”
Donnelly said Sinclair’s winning score in Chicago was the third-highest ever recorded in that event, and the best since 1963. Only 19 students have ever won the Kansas City and Chicago events in the same year – 11 of those are from K-State. Sinclair is the fifth K-State student in the past 10 years to pull off the feat. Trout had the eighth-highest score ever at Chicago.
In the contests, participants are required to identify 200 plant or seed samples of crops and weeds; grade eight samples of grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service standards; and analyze 10 seed samples to determine what contaminants they contain.
“These crops contests teach students the importance of hard work and dedication, valuable plant and seed identification skills, an appreciation for detail and how to be a good teammate and graceful winner or loser,” said the team’s coach, Rachel Veenstra.
“The skills they learn translate into nearly any profession and the identification skills in particular serve them well in future jobs, as well as certifications such as the certified crop advisor program. Some of our former crops contest competitors have gone on to be leaders in their communities, states and beyond.”