Plant Science Events and Contests

Nebraska Extension in Pierce County

111 West Court Street, Room 13, Pierce, NE 68767

Phone: 402-329-4821 Fax: 402-329-6417

Website: http://pierce.unl.edu

Email: Pierce-County@unl.edu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLPierceCounty/

Do you know what it takes to pick the best fruit and vegetables out at the grocery store? Or do you know what judges are looking for when they judge your plants at the county fair? Have you ever wondered, what plant is that!?! We are excited to offer the opportunity to learn these and other important horticulture skills through the Online Horticulture Contest. The contest will be available June 9-23, 2026 at: https://go.unl.edu/online4hhortcontest.

Horticulture judging contest consists of three parts.

• Identification of plant material. Participants identify the plants by common name from a plant list. Specimens may be alive or preserved plant parts like stems, twigs, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, roots, bulbs, tubers, or plant.
• The knowledge portion, usually in the form of a true/false or multiple choice quiz. Questions will test the contestant's knowledge of cultural practices for horticultural crops, plant science, pesticides, horticultural careers and other topics related to the production, processing and consumption of horticultural crops.
• The last portion is judging or placings. This is where four different plants, plates of vegetables, or containers flowers are ranked from best to worst based on a set of criteria. Classes are judged on the basis of condition, quality, uniformity, true-to-type, and size.

More information about the Nebraska State contest along with a list of study materials can be found in the Horticulture ID Contest Fairbook. Here you can find the written study materials for the knowledge portion, follow links to plant pictures for help with identification, and read how judging of plant material is done.

More details at: https://4h.unl.edu/online-horticulture-judging-contest

If you like plants and/or insects, here’s an opportunity to build skills and have fun too! Contests include Entomology Identification, Grass and Weed Identification, Tree Identification, and Horticulture Judging and Identification. You may participate in one or all of the contests on Thursday, June 25, at Ag Park, Columbus. Registration is due June 23. Contact the Extension Office for more information.

Grow your knowledge, get your hands dirty, and discover the exciting world of agronomy at the 4-H Agronomy Youth Field Day June 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ag Education Center on the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Campus.

Register for the free event at https://go.unl.edu/agronomyyouthfieldday2026 by June 23.

For any questions, please contact the Nebraska Extension Frontier County office at 308-367-4424 or email Katy Snyder at ksndyer2@unl.edu

Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 11th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops can learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.

This contest will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research & Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska on August 6, 2026. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 5-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. This event is limited to the first ten teams who sign-up!

Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three to five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students.

Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. Top two teams will be eligible for regional competition held in Nebraska this year.

Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics many include but are not limited to, pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.

More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Register by July 15 at: https://go.unl.edu/cropscoutingreg.

Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. The 4-H Youth Development program abides with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture. ©2026