LINCOLN, Nebraska – Students and instructors from more than 40 high schools met near Norfolk to compete in State Land Judging Oct. 16. The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (NRD) partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to host the annual competition.

With sunny skies and cool, breezy conditions, students judged on a steep sloping landscape currently enrolled in the USDA's Farm Service Agency Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  The site provided a good variety of soil parent materials for the students to see including loess, glacial till, eolian sands, and colluvium.

“We realize how important these contests are for our students to broaden their knowledge of our land,” said Lower Elkhorn NRD General Manager Brian Bruckner. “By exposing them to diverse soil types each year, they are challenged to determine appropriate management styles needed from one side of the state to the other. It has been our pleasure to host the 2024 State FFA Land Judging Contest and we congratulate the students from across Nebraska who qualified for the contest and traveled to northeast Nebraska to compete.”

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, and a few individuals who qualified separate from a team. 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. The evaluation card is scored to determine overall placements for individuals and the team. To compete in the state contest, teams advance from one of the seven regional competitions hosted across the state in October.

2024 State Land Judging Individual Champions:

1. Hallie Mottl, North Bend
2. West Bennett, Alma
3. Leo Rikli, Elmwood-Murdock
4. Dayton Snethen, Falls City
5. Brandi Helzer, Oakland Craig

2024 State Land Judging Team Champions:

1. Alma
2. Elmwood-Murdock
3. North Bend
4. Falls City
5. Norfolk

These top five Nebraska teams will advance to the national competition hosted in El Reno, Oklahoma, April 29-May 1, 2025. For more information on Nebraska Land Judging, visit https://www.nrdnet.org/nebraska-land-judging-soil-evaluation.