Jack Plot Vegas

It got down to a Husker vs. Husker contest in the Final Four with the two Nebraska teams taking first and second place.

But in the end at the elevator it was Gene Wollenburg and Larry Edgar who will be watching the Super Bowl on a 48-inch plasma television!

Congrats to everyone for playing JackPlot!™

Post update – here is an interview with the winners:

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And here is a video of the winners:

Official JackPlot!™ National Competition photo album

The Final Four teams have been selected and the last games are underway here at the JackPlot!™ Vegas National Competition.

Our Final Four – who got the highest total scores from yesterday’s four games – are Mike Casper and Jacob Homewood of Kansas, Jon Carter and Scott McKay of Louisiana, Dan Martensen and Clete Kamrath of Nebraska, and Gene Wollenburg and Larry Edgar – also from Nebraska.

Best of luck as we head to the finish line!

Here is a little video of the Final Four being introduced:

Official JackPlot!™ National Competition photo album

The JackPlot!™ game is a pretty unique way of reaching out to farmers beyond traditional advertising and trade show exhibiting.

One of the minds behind the development of the game was Josh Krenz, marketing manager with Winfield Solutions on the Croplan Genetics brand – who is also serving as one of the game show hosts here in Vegas.

“The concepting of the game began in the fall of 2006,” Josh said. “The game itself was finally complete in February 2008.”

Josh says they wanted the game to be educational and fun. “We actually did a survey here a couple weeks back of folks that had played the game or received it in the mail and 75 percent said that it was fun and educational, so we achieved our goal.”

The game was sent to 25,000 growers nationwide who were close to one of the Answer Plot® events this year and 16 of them were randomly selected to become high rollers here in Vegas for the first-ever JackPlot!™ National Competition.

Listen to an interview with Josh about the game:

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The JackPlot!™ National Competition is officially underway here at the Las Vegas Hilton with our hosts Josh Krenz and Nathan Stryker. Everyone is serious and intense – well, not so much – but the winner will fly home with a 42″ plasma flat screen TV. Meanwhile, the audience is having a good time answering questions themselves for prizes!

There are 16 teams split up into four tables with four teams at each table playing each other for the first round. A total of four games will be played and the scores will be accumulated.

The object of the game is to have the most bushels at the end – kinda like farming! In order to do that, you have to make good planting decisions. The teams consist of a farmer and his agronomist, so they work together to make it happen.

Official JackPlot!™ National Competition photo album

The JackPlot!™ National Competition welcome dinner featured a pep talk on the real life competition to grow better and healthier crops with improved genetics.

John Romines, Director of Seed and Agronomy sales for Winfield Solutions and CROPLAN GENETICS®, says its a great time to be in agriculture. “Our goal is to create sustainable food production that will ultimately feed the world and a growing population,” he said.

He explains that the JackPlot!™ game and promotion were developed to help growers learn about what they call “Answer Plots” which are educational initiatives nationwide that are sponsored by CROPLAN GENETICS and local seed retailers. “JackPlot!™ is an offshoot of all the information and knowledge required to make good decisions,” John says.

There are 138 sites across the country to help train the retail sales network across the co-op system and educate growers. “It’s really about what we call ‘R to the Seventh Power’ – the Right genetics, with the Right traits on the Right soil types planted at the Right plant population in the Right crop rotation with the Right crop protection products and the Right soil fertility management,” he says.

Listen to an interview with John here – John Romines Interview

The Official JackPlot!™ National Competition photo album is up and running now on Flickr. Check out the photos here and keep checking back as it will continue to be updated during the event.