(By Atlantic FFA reporter Aspen Niklasen) – The Atlantic FFA chapter competed in the Southwest Iowa District Soils Judging Contest at the Armstrong Research Farm in Lewis on Monday September 27th. Atlantic FFA had 7 individuals compete in 2 teams. Team 1 which consisted of Bryan York, Cooper Jipsen, DJ Shepperd and Malena Woodward, got 6th place overall and earned a gold rating and were selected as the Alternate for the Iowa FFA State Soils CDE. There were 139 FFA members from 25 schools at the Contest. Bryan York placed 24th, Malena Woodward 26th,DJ Shepperd 30th and Cooper Jipsen placed 44th overall. “I met a lot of new people and learned alot about competing and soils judging,” said team member DJ Shepperd.

Team 2 placed 12th with team members Charli Goff placing 31st, Daniel Freund placing 49th and Brett Dreager placing 79th. Brett Dreager said, “Soils judging was a lot of fun. I learned it is more than just looking at dirt. There are a lot of factors that go into soil quality.“

Team members from left to right are:
Charli Goff, Malena Woodward, Bryan York, Cooper Jipsen, DJ Shepperd, Brett Dreager, Daniel Freund.

The Soils Judging Career Development Event is designed towards motivating students to gain knowledge on surface features, the soil profile, land capability and productivity, evaluation of land use and management practices, and suitability of soils for nonagricultural uses. Students also develop the ability to observe selected soil properties, and use these observations to interpret and evaluate these properties for recommendations for land use. Bryan York said, “With the information I learned by participating in this contest, I was able to make new connections to the soil health measures I was using inside my garden. I would recommend this contest to any new members who are looking to get involved or anyone interested in learning more about how the quality of soil affects your crops.”

After the contest took place, Mr. Miller, the Atlantic FFA advisor, felt good about the day’s competition. “I was impressed with the way our students performed. They made a lot of improvement in a very short amount of time.”