Launched by the CDAQ in June 2007, Agriculture at the Top funded poster contests about agricultural issues, and was addressed to students in the cégeps, universities and agrifood institutes of Québec. The success of the second and last edition of the contest demonstrates the awareness and interest that students have for agriculture, regardless of their area of study.

The contest offered participants a creative learning experience in three steps:

·          well-structured and thorough research about an agricultural issue;

·          creation of a poster to communicate that issue to the general public;

·          presentation of the poster to their fellow students.

Six issues related to Québec agriculture were proposed: agriculture and environment; health and consumer concerns; rurality and regional development; marketing farm products; farm production; and human resources.

Growing and varied participation

This year, the contest was offered by 21 schools: two universities, 18 cégeps and 1 agrifood institute. Reflecting the effort put into getting schools in urban areas to take part, the 15 new schools included 8 cégeps in Montréal, two of them Anglophone, along with one university and a cégep in Québec.

Compared to last year, the number of students participating more than doubled, rising from 398 to 850. In total, 628 posters were created. The two main issues chosen by the students were agro-environment (28%) and health and consumer concerns (21%).

Success factors

The contest encouraged participation by all students, whatever their field of study. The participants came from 30 different disciplines at the college level and 15 at the university level. The goal of raising awareness was definitely accomplished, with over 85% of the participants being in programs unrelated to agriculture, compared to 58% in the first edition.

As well, a number of teachers made the contest part of their course plan, ensuring high participation and a disciplined approach by the students. This helped the contest reach students in architecture, human sciences, graphic arts and information technology among others.

A harvest of winners The number of prizes per establishment, and their value, varied with the number of participants and their level of study. Most of the students worked in teams, allowing more participants to be rewarded with each prize. In total, 95 winners shared $95 000 in prizes.   A partnership activity The contests were supported by partnerships in the regions. Besides the support of teaching staff, the schools drew on the expertise of farm organizations, farmers and industry professionals who shared their knowledge with participants. A number of agricultural stakeholders also served on the contest juries.   Exhibitions The activities of presenting and exhibiting the posters reached more than 14 000 people, primarily the students and staff of the schools involved. Many displayed the posters in public places or have used them in activities outside of the contest, thereby bringing agricultural issues to the awareness of an even broader public.

Contest in numbers...

	2007-2008 Edition	2008-2009 Edition
Number of students participating	398	850
Number of posters	249	628
Number of students who received a prize	58	95
Total amount of prizes awarded	$ 60,000 $	$ 95,000
Number of participating schools	13	21
Participants in a field of studies not related to agriculture	58 %	85 %