A team of Kansas State University agronomy students rallied late in the championship round to capture the school’s fourth title in the past 10 years at the Forage Bowl national contest in Kissimmee, Florida on Jan. 13.

The Forage Bowl is a tournament in the style of the popular television game show Jeopardy in which teams accumulate points through two rounds before squaring off in a ‘Final Jeopardy’ round. The national contest is hosted by the American Forage and Grassland Council.

Sarah Frye, one of two coaches for the team this year, said K-State rallied from behind in the second round, building a large enough lead that “we knew we were going to win” before the final question was asked.

K-State finished with a final score of 5,999 to beat the defending national champion, University of Wisconsin-River Falls (3,400). It is the fourth national title for K-State since 2015, which was the first year that the university began competing in this national event.

K-State also won in 2015, 2016 and 2023. The team also finished as national runner-up in 2017 and 2020.

“This win shows the dedication that our students have toward their academic success and their professions,” Frye said, noting that team members had nearly perfect attendance at weekly practices this fall despite carrying heavy academic loads. “The students did an excellent job working as a team and it showed during the competition.”

Raj Khosla, head of K-State’s Department of Agronomy, said that wins like this are also a product of faculty members who “prioritize student learning and enrichment through a diverse array of curricular and extra-curricular activities.”

“Their commitment to excellence is reflected in yet another national title in forage bowl competition,” Khosla said. “K-State agronomy takes immense pride in nurturing the next generation of leaders and equipping them with skills and knowledge to make significant impact in the world.”

In the national tournament, teams are made of 2-4 students, with alternates. Teams are seeded into the Jeopardy-style tournament based on a live plant identification quiz. The game consists of seven categories, with five questions in each category.

Though only five students represented K-State at the national tournament, “we had 10 students who practiced during the fall semester, and this greatly contributed to overall team performance and morale,” Frye said. “Each student excelled in their forage knowledge and worked well with each other to strengthen the team during the competition.”

Forages are grasses and legumes fed to animals in the form of pasture or hay. According to the American Forage and Grassland Council, forages cover an estimated 55% of the land area in the United States and contribute approximately $60 billion to the national economy.

This is the 17th year of the national Forage Bowl contest, though K-State has competed only in the past 10.

The team’s win this year continues an impressive string of national championships by K-State’s academic judging teams. Since last April, K-State has collected national titles in crops judging (one in the spring and one in the fall), meat animal evaluation (April), meat judging (November) and livestock judging (November).

“Above all, we have excellent students who work hard and well together,” Frye said of the forage team. “They take the time to learn the material and how to apply their knowledge in various formats. In addition, the coaches provide an encouraging learning environment and have a wide array of knowledge and resources to support them.”

The team is also coached by K-State professor of forage systems Doohong Min. Members who competed in the national contest include senior team captain Quinten Bina (Pilsen, Kansas), senior Molly Kane (Paola, Kansas), senior Carissa Sohm (Rolla, Kansas), junior Caleb Reese (Wichita, Kansas) and senior Ashlyn Hartman (Pawnee City, Nebraska).