From 15th to 18th August 2023 18 teams, each consisting of 4 students and one teamleader, from 17 European countries met in Nitra/Slovakia to compete in 18 different tasks at the 6th AgroChallenge (AgrOlympics till 2019). The competition was hosted by the Secondary School of veterinary studies Nitra, EUROPEA Slovakia and the University of Agriculture Nitra. The participants came from Norway, Sweden, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Rumania, Serbia, Germany and the Netherlands.
At the different tasks technical skills, good teamwork and organization and good professional knowledge was needed. Here are some of the given tasks: reversing a trailer, tractor driving, stapling straw, building an electrified fence, mixing a fodder ration, recognizing plants, weeds, pests and diseases, changing wheels on a tractor and blades on a mower, peeling apples and building a bee frame.
After two competition days Team Germany from Fachschulzentrum Freiberg-Zug (Dshamila Bornschier, Lea Schettler, Daniel Sinkwitz, Max Wondratschek, team leader Sabine Beck) was announced as the winner of the 2023, Team Czech Republic won the second place, Team Luxembourg got the 3rd place. Congratulations to the winners and all participating teams who showed a high motivation and good professsional skills.
Besides the competition it is an important aim of this event to bring together young farmers from all over Europe and to increase understanding for each other. On the evenings there were lots of student groups talking an discussion about personal and professional issues.
A BIG THANK YOU to the colleagues from Slovakia who organized ths AgroChallenge. It was a magnificent experience for all participants:-)
Next year the AgroChallenge will take place in Estonia, in 2025 in the Netherlands, again as a professional competition but also a celebration of European understanding.
Gerd Alscher
