February 15, 2022
2022 Willie and the Beanstalk contest
Submitted by Nathan O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Dear 4H Agents,
You and your 4-H groups are invited to participate in the 2022 Willie and the Beanstalk contest!
The contest is to see who can grow the biggest soybean plant in a 40-day period. Judging will take place on April 9th, 2022 at the K-State Manhattan campus as part of the 2020 K-State Open House activities. All contestants who submit a plant for judging will receive a free T-shirt and there will be plaques and certificates for the winning teams.
We envision this as a teaching opportunity, where youth can investigate plant genetics, plant nutrition, plant growth, soil properties, and environmental factors that all come together to produce the largest soybean plant. We hope that this can be a fun project that will encourage active learning processes.
Ideally, we would like the youth to attend the 2022 open house, where they will be able to participate in the scoring of their plants and meet with Faculty and students in the Agronomy Department. However, we recognize that this is a busy time of year; therefore, attendance on the day of judging is not a requirement. Advisers may deliver the plants and pick up the t-shirts. Advisers can contact Nathan Nelson at 785-537-7452 or nonelson@ksu.edu if they would like to arrange a departmental visit prior to the open house.
Please find the attached contest announcement and contest rules. Additional information is available on the contest web site at http://beanstalk.agronomy.ksu.edu and questions can be addressed to beanstalk@ksu.edu. Note that the registration deadline is Monday, February 28th, 2022. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing your students at the contest.
Sincerely,
Nathan Nelson
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Nathan O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Professor
Kansas State Univ. Agronomy Dept.
2708 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center
1712 Claflin Road
Manhattan, KS 66506-0110
785-532-5115 (office)
nonelson@ksu.edu