Intellectual game "Novice Farmer", held by the All-Russian youth public organization "Russian Union of rural youth" and supported by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia

For the first time, the intellectual game "Novice Farmer" was held in April 2012 at the Dagestan State Agrarian University. Soon it became an All-Russian event. Russian Ministry of Agriculture and the Russian Union of Rural Youth launched the intellectual game "Novice Farmer" among students of all agricultural universities in Russia.

The purpose of these games is to develop students' business planning skills in agriculture, and to improve their ability to collect and analyze information. Improvement of student's decision-making skills and teamwork skills is another crucial aim of the intellectual game. Important objectives of the intellectual game:

• finding and supporting talented young people;
• expanding the youth's knowledge in the field of Economics, Business planning and Management in agriculture;
• raising the awareness about the possibility of opening a farm using grants given to notice farmers in order to help them to establish and develop a farm;
• development of personal competencies of the game participants.

The IV Intellectual Game was held in 2015-2016. It was the first game available not only for university or college students, but also for schoolchildren willing to work in the field of agriculture.

Teams participating in the game can consist of up to 3 students and a mentor.

The game includes the following contests:

1. Presentation of a business idea: a slide show (up to 10 slides);
2. "Duel" - representatives of teams ask each other questions in the field of business planning, management, and programs of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture;
3. Blitz-answer to the questions about business plan asked by the Jury;
4. "Situation" - each team is offered a business situation, and each team has to make decisions in accordance with the law;
5. Creating of the e-poster (paper size A3, jpg or pdf format), containing an image of the brand manufactured product, product's place of origin; logo of the farm and an advertising appeal;
6. "Cooperation" - participants are answering to the questions of the Expert jury regarding their knowledge of the cooperative principles and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture programs aimed at cooperation support;
7. "Situation in cooperation conditions" - each team is offered a modern economic situation (crisis, import substitution, market capture by networks) which the team must resolve in accordance with law.

Report on the IV Intellectual Game "Notice Farmer»

8 teams fought to participate in the final round of the game: "Grain of Siberia", "Vitamin", "Bumbarash", "Knight's Move", "Cheesemakers", "Tyomushkino seed", "Munch-Krunch farm", and "Dobrynya Nikitich".

Competent Jury assessed the work of teams. The members of the Jury were:

• Zhanna Schmidt – Chairman of the jury, Vice-rector for educational work and social support of FSBEI HE Omsk SAU students;
• Tatiana Minnagulova – chief specialist at the Department of Livestock development, small farms, processing and product market of the Ministry of agriculture and food of the Omsk region;
• Artem Zatolokin – the Chairman of Omsk regional branch of All-Russian youth public organization "Russian Union of rural youth";
• Dmitry Nardin – Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, accounting, and financial control of the Institute of economy and Finance, Acting head of the Research Department;
• Vyacheslav Sviridenko – the head of farm "Sviridenko";
• Olga Yadrishchenskaya – Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, leading researcher at the Siberian Research Institute of Poultry.

The game consisted of 7 contests.

The first stage of the game allowed participants to present a business idea in the form of a slide show.

The Jury assessed such a large number of creative and economical innovations! There were so many things during the game - prose and rhymes, interesting economical patterns, hospitable lunch-breaks...

Participant presented a lot of great ideas for creating farms. Great variety of topics made the game especially exciting -sheep farming, horse breeding, rabbit breeding, cheese making, the production of meat and dairy products, the cultivation of spelt, the cultivation of vitamin salad for animals, and the production of cereals...

After the presentation of their business ideas, the participants of the game answered the questions of the expert Jury. And since the Jury consisted of practicing farmers and agricultural specialists, there were not just questions about effective business planning, losses, profits and cost, but also about risks calculation, crisis situations, logistics, sales market and jobs.

One of the stages of the game was "Duel", when team members asked each other questions in the field of business planning, management and programs of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.

After that, there were "Situation" and "Situation of cooperation" contests. Students were asked to think about the organization of farms cooperation with market entities and to analyze the results of potential cooperation with different organizations. The presented posters revealed that the students had not only creative skills, but good knowledge of marketing.

The Jury marked with a white stone the advertising poster created by the team of the Tara Branch of the university, which had the slogan "Make a Knight's Move!" 

For the first time, the team from Omsk SAU College of Agribusiness took part in the "Novice farmer", presenting a business plan "Mini-cheese factory on a private farmstead".

At the regional stage of the intellectual game, students of different Omsk Colleges were present as spectators and fans. Throughout the day, these students were watching the competition, and in the next V intellectual game "Novice farmer" they plan to take part in it and to protect the honor of their educational institutions!

The team from Omsk SAU Business Incubator, "Dobrynya Nikitich" was announced the winner of the intellectual game. They presented a business project on meat and dairy products production. The members of "Dobrynya Nikitich" were:

• Nikita Volkov – team leader, a third year student of the Agrotechnological Faculty;
• Evgeni Ustyantsev – graduate student from the Faculty of Technical Service of Agroindustrial Complexes;
• Yulia Zadvornova – 4th year student of Faculty of Land Management.

Vitaly Epanchintsev, Head of the Business Incubator, Candidate of Economic Sciences and Associate Professor of the Department of Economics, Accounting and Financial Control, acted as a team mentor.

The rest of the teams were awarded with certificates.

Photo report from the event