NMSU Agriculture Business take first place.

Aggies take first place for NMSU in Denmark DATE: 08/01/2016 WRITER: Peter Foreman, 575-646-6233, peterjay@nmsu.edu CONTACT: William Gorman, 575-649-1295, wigorman@nmsu.edu Three agribusiness students represented New Mexico State University at the 2016 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association Annual Conference in Aarhus, Denmark. Julie Wilbanks of Moriarty, Shayna Gallacher of Carrizozo, and Emily Russell of Las Cruces traveled to the IFAMA Conference where they were able to take first place among more than 27 other universities in the Student Case Study Competition. They competed in the Undergraduate division which allows for one graduate student. “Being able to represent NMSU in this capacity has been such an exciting and knowledgeable experience,” Wilbanks said. “IFAMA is an educational organization with members including leaders from the food and agribusiness from around the world, university professors and students,” Professor Emeritus, Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, William Gorman said. The competition entailed forming a 15 minute presentation on the case study given to the students. The topics of the presentations were on a sustainability program called AgBalance by BASF. NMSU won the preliminary round for the first time in the 11 years of the conference. In the final round, the NMSU group topped an experienced group from China. “We based our presentation on marketing AgBalance in the US as a tool to help the agricultural industry become more sustainable and responsible from farm to table,” Wilbanks said. The event featured more than 400 students from multiple countries. The group’s attendance at the conference was made possible by CHS Inc. (Farmer owned cooperative), IFAMA, NMSU Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business Department, NMSU Aggies Go Global, and the NMSU Honors College.