8/4/98

Contacts:
Darren Jarboe, Iowa Grain Quality Initiative, (515) 294-3137
Ed Adcock, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-2314

GRAIN QUALITY CONTEST OPENS CLASS FOR YOUTH

DES MOINES -- This year's Corn and Soybean Quality Contest at the Iowa State Fair will accept grain samples from youths for the first time.

The contest awards prizes for samples of corn and soybeans based on estimated processing value (EPV) and is sponsored by Iowa State University's Grain Quality Laboratory. The testing will take place Aug. 14 and 15 in the Agriculture Building on the state fairgrounds. The state fair runs from Aug. 13 to 23.

For the Youth Corn and Soybean Crop Exhibit part of the contest, youth exhibitors will be defined as 4-H members, FFA members or others less than 21 years old. Crop samples the youth helped produce will be compared, ranked and placed using the same valuation system used in the adult contest. Each youth entrant will receive a prize for taking part.

Corn and soybean samples, of 1.5 pounds, may be brought to the Agriculture and Horticulture Crops Department in the south end of the Agriculture Building from noon Aug. 12 until noon Aug. 15. Samples may also be entered by mailing them to: Bill Turner, Superintendent, Agricultural and Horticultural Crops Department, Agriculture Building, Iowa State Fair, East 30th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50317. Hybrid/variety, the contestant's name and address, including zip code, must accompany each contest entry.

The Grain Quality Lab will use a whole grain near infrared analyzer to measure sample composition. The analyzer will give results in about two minutes. The EPV components for corn will be oil, protein and starch, and oil and protein for soybeans. High quality grains can receive as much as 40 cents and $1.10 a bushel in premiums for corn and soybeans, respectively.

Winners will be announced at 4 p.m. Aug. 15 in the Agriculture Building. Cash prizes will be awarded to entrants who are present and mailed to those who aren't in attendance. Top prizes for each adult contest category will be $50 and the top 10 places in each category will receive a prize.

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