Five Australian agriculture students will take on the world’s best at this year’s International Food and Agribusiness Management Association conference in Atlanta in the US next week.

With support from specialist agribusiness recruitment agency, Rimfire Resources, five Australian university students will band together to compete in the IFAMA International Student Case Competition from  June 16 to 20.

The students representing Australia are Will Porter (Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga); Lachlan Margetts and Chris Cooper (University of Queensland); and Rhys Pirrie and Lachlan Chadwick (University of Sydney). Dr Ray Collins (UQ) and Dr David Ubilava (U of S) are team coaches.

They will work through a complex agribusiness situation, develop a creative and practical solution and present their perspective, analyses and recommendations to a panel of judges.

The event is modelled on the MIT versus Harvard Case Competition, where teams of students from opposing universities are graded on their solutions to real business challenges by judges from top consulting firms.

Like the MIT-Harvard event, the IFAMA competition gives students an opportunity to demonstrate and share their consulting strategies while networking with industry professionals.

Rimfire Resources’ Nigel Crawley said the event would also give students exposure to global agricultural and agribusiness trends and problem solving techniques whilst showcasing Australian talent.

“The competition is university versus university, country versus country and a fantastic way for Australian agricultural students to test themselves on a global stage against the world’s best,” Mr Crawley said.

The trip is funded by Rimfire Resources, JBS Australia, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Bayer.