Recently the FFA Chapters for Adair – Casey / Guthrie Center and West Central Valley sent teams to compete in soil judging.

According to Chapter Reporter Presley Buttler, AC/GC’s members traveled to the Armstrong Research Farm in Lewis, Iowa and competed for the chance to advance to district competition. This soils evaluation test was intended to motivate students to learn about surface features, soil profile, land capability and productivity, evaluation of the land use and management, and suitability of soils for nonagricultural uses.

The team that qualified to compete at districts consists of Isabelle Rouse, Emmarae Ellis, Lucy Knutter and Bo Arrasmith, while the second team was composed of Gavin Sloss, Belle Fagan, Irelyn Wirt and Blaise Tallman. Teams inspected four different soil pits, and performed a written test throughout the day, with the district qualifying team placing 8th out of 24 teams.

West Central Valley’s soil judging team consisted of Jacob Balsmeier, Bailey Dickson, Avery Morey, Connor Light, Cadence Heilman, Abigail Hart and Ty Kirkpatrick, and they traveled to Knoxville, Iowa for the South Central District contest. The team received a gold rating, and was able to place 6th out of 25 teams. There were also individual rankings awarded, with Balsmeier placing 19th, Dickson placing 25th, Morey coming in 26th and Light taking 42nd, with a total of 97 individuals competing.