Graduate students from Montana State University took center stage during the third annual “March Madness” research competition hosted by the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee in Bozeman.
A total of 26 Masters and PhD students competed for more than $7,000 in prize money, presenting their research in a fast-paced, “Shark Tank”-style format. Emceed by Northern Ag Network’s Colter Brown, each student had just five minutes to pitch their project to a panel of judges made up of Montana growers.
Unlike traditional academic presentations, the competition required students to explain their work with an emphasis on real-world application and what it means to Montana’s farmers. Judges evaluated each project on impact, communication, practicality, and presentation, while also engaging contestants with follow-up questions alongside a packed audience.
One of the winners in the master’s division was Ethan Harbo, who is researching a new seed treatment aimed at improving crop performance.
“I’m working with an experimental seed treatment, we’re calling it ‘Super Grow,’” Harbo said. “I’ve been applying it to pulse crops. What we’ve seen so far is an increase in root length and overall yield. It’s very low cost to growers. For chickpeas specifically, it’s around 2 cents an acre and it’s easy to apply.”
Harbo noted the treatment can be used alongside commonly applied seed treatments, making it an easy addition for producers. “The benefits definitely outweigh the cost,” he said.
Wheat stem sawfly was a key focus area in several presentations. Jared Lile took first place in the later-year PhD division for his work supporting the development of more resistant wheat varieties.
“The thing with sawfly is the main solution is going to come from the breeding program,” Lile said. “My work is to help us develop those varieties using new technologies like genetic sequencing and computational prediction modeling methods. My work is to take these new technologies and apply them to the breeding program so that we can make more resistant varieties than what’s already out there.”
Plentywood farmer and Wheat and Barley Committee chair Terry Angvik, said the event provides a valuable opportunity to connect research with on-farm needs.
“This is awesome because we had 26 master’s and doctoral candidates presenting research projects that are going to benefit agriculture in the future,” Angvik said. “It’s just perfect to be able to recognize these young people and the research they’re doing on our behalf.”
Angvik also emphasized the importance of checkoff dollars in supporting these efforts and ensuring results are delivered back to producers.
“Growers contribute those checkoff dollars on every sale they make and we are charged with spending those funds wisely,” he said. “That includes research, education, and market development. It’s important that we’re able to take those funds and contribute back to the Montana producers who provided them.”
The event is designed not only to reward strong research, but also to challenge students to think about practical applications and communicate directly with producers. The overall goal is to better prepare the next generation of agricultural researchers to address real-world challenges facing Montana farms and ranches.
This year there were four divisions of competitors: Masters First Year, Masters Later Year, PhD First Year and PhD Later Year. Winners are as follows:
| Contestant | Division | Placing | Project |
| Maya Clark | Masters First Year | 1st – $1,000 | Biological Control of Wheat Stem Sawfly |
| Drue Erwin | Masters First Year | 2nd – $500 | The Effect of Temperature and Timing on Herbicide Efficacy in Wild Oats |
| Jenna Goslin | Masters First Year | 3rd – $250 | Does Group 2 Herbicide Injury Exacerbate Fusarium Root Rot in Peas and Lentils? |
| Kaelin Smith | Masters Later Year | 1st – $1,000 | Can Plant Scents Help Us Manage Wheat Stem Sawfly? |
| Connor Nelle | Masters Later Year | 2nd – $500 | Pre-spray Detection of Herbicide Resistance in Wild Oats |
| Ethan Harbo | Masters Later Year | 3rd – $250 | Improving Pulse Crop Growth with Hydrogen Sulfide Seed Treatment |
| Megan Engel | PhD First Year | 1st – $1,000 | Tillering Capacity and Yield Response to Planting Density and Fertilizer |
| Janaki Mahat | PhD First Year | 2nd – $500 | Identification of Genetic Control of Resistance to Wheat Stem Sawfly in Barley |
| Luis Esquivel-Cervantes | PhD First Year | 3rd – $250 | HB4 Durum – Making Wheat that Holds Yield in Dry Environments |
| Jared Lile | PhD Later Year | 1st – $1,000 | Genomic Selection for Wheat Stem Sawlfy Resistance in Spring Wheat |
| Siddat Nesar | PhD Later Year | 2nd – $500 | Decoding Soil Health from Space |
| Dayu Yang | PhD Later Year | 3rd – $250 | Improving Seed Size and Stress Tolerance in Camelina |
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Northern Ag Network
