Lakeland students place first in agribusiness competition

Agriculture seems to be in good hands as Lakeland students win agribusiness competition.

The fourth annual Cor Van Raay Agribusiness Case Competition took place on October 27 in Lethbridge. Teams had four hours to analyze a case, develop a solution and prepare a 15-minute presentation to three judges.

11 teams from five post-secondary schools from Alberta and Saskatchewan participated. The Lakeland team consisted of Lakeland’s team of Hannah Olson, Abby Black, Bethan Lewis and Bailey Hofstra.

The two-day competition also gave students the opportunity to participate in developmental actvivities and network with industry professionals. Olson says the team was in shock when they heard their names called, they considered themselves underdogs.

“When we found out it was a dairy case, we knew it would play to our team’s strengths. Two of us have dairy experience, so it was something we were excited and confident about. I don’t think there was anything we did that we wanted to do better.”

Lakeland’s case team is one of three in the Student-Managed Enterprise, in which second-year agribusiness students use theory involved in real scenarios. According to release by Lakeland, what the team completed in four hours is what they usually achieve in a week in the SME course. Agribusiness Instructor Darla Stepanick says she knew they won as soon as they came out of the presentation room.

“The judges approached me afterward and said our students had blown their minds saying, ‘They had an intimacy with agriculture,’ as in they showed a passion for agriculture that no other school showed. You can know agriculture but it’s the students that live and breathe it that stand out, and they said that was the difference.”

The University of Saskatchewan placed seconded and the University of Lethbridge in third.