The top five placegetters of GGA's inaugural Australian University Crops Competition (AUCC) have returned home after gaining some valuable insights into New Zealand's cropping industry.

The top five placegetters of GGA's inaugural Australian University Crops Competition (AUCC) have returned home after gaining some valuable insights into New Zealand's cropping industry.

The AUCC, launched by GGA in 2009, was developed to build capacity in the next generation of grain growers and test their skills by taking students out of the classroom and into the paddock.

The top five competition placegetters, Sandy Middleton (Charles Sturt University), Michael Noble (University of Adelaide), Annieka Paridaen (La Trobe University), Denielle Kilby (University of New England) and Alex Byrne (La Trobe University) won a fully funded four-day industry tour to New Zealand.

Competition winner Sandy Middleton said the trip was a terrific opportunity to learn about crop production in a completely different environment.

"The trip gave us an insight into the issues facing New Zealand's grain producers who farm in a cool environment where water is abundant," Mr Middleton said.

The tour group met with New Zealand university representatives and visited the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, a number of NZ farms and a seed production company.

They were also hosted by the Young Farmer Group from the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) and met with a Field Biologist from Syngenta.

GGA Chairman John Eastburn said developing practical skills and having a greater awareness of the industry is giving today's uni students a leg up, strengthening their position when it comes to entering the job market

"The AUCC is part of GGA's strategic direction to build capacity in the younger generation of growers who are establishing themselves in the industry," Mr Eastburn said.

"GGA encourages young people to tackle the important issues facing the industry today and the challenges in the future. We also hope many of these young people will take on leadership roles in the grains industry in the future."

The placegetters from the inaugural competition are sitting on the development committee and will assist in the delivery of the 2010 competition in September.

The AUCC was sponsored by Syngenta and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry under its Australia's Farming Future Program.

Caption: Tour participants at Greenvale Pasture in a wheat crop targeting the world record wheat yield of 15.3t/ha.