Students and instructors from 30 Nebraska FFA chapters met Oct. 23 in Tecumseh to compete in State Land Judging. The Nemaha Natural Resources District partnered with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to host the annual competition.

"We're excited to bring students to our district to learn about the soils in southeast Nebraska, since it is one of our most important natural resources," said Bob Hilske, Nemaha NRD general manager. "Land judging allows students to investigate the soils in their region and understand the importance of proper stewardship to sustain and improve our environment."

Land judging is a high school competition that challenges students to gain a better understanding of soil structure and land evaluation. Teams consist of four students from the same FFA chapter. Each participant learns how to recognize the physical features of the soil, determine land capability for crop production, and evaluate management practices needed for proper stewardship.

During the competition, students judge four soil pits using an evaluation card to make assessments on soil depth, surface texture, permeability, slope, thickness of surface and erosion. Each evaluation card is scored and added together to determine overall scores for individuals and the team.

In order to compete in the state contest, teams advance from one of the seven regional competitions hosted across the state in October.

The 2019 State Land Judging top five individuals were:

The 2019 State Land Judging top five teams were:

These top five Nebraska teams will advance to the national land judging competition May 5-7 in Oklahoma City. For information on Nebraska land judging, visit nrdnet.org.

Source: Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.