A team of University of Guelph students recently won fourth place and the admiration of their competitors at a North American agricultural marketing contest in Kansas City, Mo.

Ten students in agricultural business and science (all in U of G’s Ontario Agricultural College) placed fourth out of 28 teams at the National Agri-Marketing Association student marketing competition earlier this month. The Guelph team was also voted “most favourite team” by competing teams and won an Outstanding Chapter Award.

“Every school comes very prepared, and the competition is tough, but another important aspect of the competition is how we represent the University of Guelph and Canada,” said team member Amanda Stewart.

The U of G team was one of only two Canadian schools at the event — the other was the University of Saskatchewan. The Guelph team consisted of students Matt Cardiff, Celeste Cook, Scott Coghlin, Drew Debruyn, Mark Groen, Paige Handsor, Courtney O’Neill, Alanna Pot, Marenda Schipper and Amanda Stewart.

The students prepared a marketing plan and presentation on a product called “Strawbabies” based on research being conducted by Adam Dale, professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Agriculture.

“We are very proud of the students for both their hard work and the acknowledgement they received from their peers. The competition is tough at NAMA and they represented U of G very well,” said Prof. Andreas Boecker, Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics and faculty advisor to the team.