The OAC Weeds Team and their coaches Clarence Swanton and Darren Robinson,  have spent the last few months preparing for the 2015 National Collegiate Weed competition to be held at Ohio State University’s Agricultural Research and Development Center at South Charleston, Ohio, July 21-22.  The 2015 team consists of 17 Undergrads and 5 Grad students. 

Students will be judged on their ability to identify weeds as seeds, seedlings, plants and plant parts, and will be tested on common and scientific names. Students must recognize more than 130 species of weeds and recognize the effects of 30 herbicides. Judges, (comprised of university faculty, industry professionals from governmental agencies, Syngenta, BASF, Bayer, DowAgroSciences, DuPont and Monstanto ) will gauge knowledge of sprayer calculations and proper use of spraying equipment, ensuring the safety and efficacy for herbicide applications. 

U of Guelph students will compete against US rivals including the University of California at Davis, Washington State University, Texas A&M University, Penn State, Purdue University, and Virginia Tech.  In 2014, top over all individual undergraduate performance awards were given to Stephen Boersma, Chris Budd and Joanna Burrows who placed first, second and third respectively. The remaining students from the undergraduate and graduate teams competed well and placed competitively within their categories.

The team has been funded by grants from various agencies.