Each year, Monsanto sponsors a competition among high school students to see which class can grow the most corn on company-owned land, giving the would-be farmers a chance to call the shots and “learn firsthand about the guesswork and gambles that farmers make every year,” says Harvest Public Media.
In “Fantasy Farming,” as the four-year-old competition is called, students make the decisions—from choosing the seed to how much nitrogen to use and whether to apply a fungicide. Employees at the Monsanto Learning Center, a 480-acre research farm just south of Monmouth, Illinois, farms the plots according to student orders. The school that produces the highest yield gets $1,000, and another $1,000 goes to the school that generates the greatest profit.
“It’s almost like picking a fantasy football team,” says Troy Coziahr, who manages the center. “They’re drafting their team and the hybrid is like the quarterback, right? That’s the first choice you‘re going to make. Nitrogen is kind of like the running back. That’s carrying the load.”
Similar competitions are held at the company’s learning centers in Iowa and Nebraska, says Harvest Public Media.