Several area FFA chapters competed in the Iowa FFA Southeast District Soil Judging Contest on Tuesday, September 29th, with Sigourney, Keota, and Davis County punching their tickets to the state competition and Fairfield also turning in a strong performance.
FFA Soil Judging is a hands-on contest in which students evaluate soil and land to determine how it can best be used and managed. Students examine soil pits and judge characteristics such as soil texture, slope, drainage, erosion, and depth, then use that information to make decisions about land capability and conservation practices. The district competition included four soil pits worth 40 questions each and a 40-point written test.
Jason Steele, a resource soil scientist with the NRCS who judges the sub-district and district contests in southeast Iowa, said the contest covers a broad range of practical knowledge. “Students are judged on figuring slope, landscape positions and measuring different soil horizons and textures. They take some of that information and then figure out what conservation practices like terraces, contouring, and waterways are needed in that field,” Steele said. “It’s all around a very good way to teach students about different soil types and their properties. Soils are complicated but it’s a great day in the field for learning. They put in a lot of time studying to compete well.”
Sigourney FFA dominated the contest, winning the Southeast District team championship among a field of 27 teams. Individually, Sigourney swept the top three spots — Rex Flynn took first place, Cooper Moore second, and Dayne Chittick third.
Keota FFA finished third as a team and also punched their ticket to state. Brennan McGuire placed seventh and Porter Cave placed eighth individually, with Tucker Sprouse and Memphis Jaeger rounding out the team.
Davis County FFA finished fifth as a team — also advancing to state. The team of Katy Smoot, Emma Smoot, Camryn Batterson, and Chloe Tharp will compete at the state contest on Thursday. Katy Smoot placed ninth individually. Kaylin Bremer served as the alternate.
Fairfield FFA sent two teams to the district contest, with their official competing team placing seventh overall. That team consisted of Jackson Hollander, Benji Hunter, Owen Adam, and Kyler Atwood. The alternate team of Andin Lyon, Max Lovelady, Jasper Carpenter, and Wayne Wiley also participated to gain experience. Fairfield FFA Advisor and Agriculture Teacher Elly Stremsterfer said the contest gives students a chance to apply classroom learning in a real-world setting. “It gives students a chance to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real soil, real fields, and real agricultural situations,” Stremsterfer said.
The complete top 10 team results from the Southeast District were: Sigourney first, Montezuma second, Keota third, English Valleys fourth, Davis County fifth, Muscatine sixth, Fairfield seventh, Clear Creek Amana eighth, Williamsburg ninth, and Mediapolis tenth.
The top 10 individual finishers were Rex Flynn of Sigourney in first, Cooper Moore of Sigourney in second, Dayne Chittick of Sigourney in third, Luke Benson of Montezuma in fourth, Jacob Meyer of Montezuma in fifth, Kane Axmear of English Valleys in sixth, Brennan McGuire of Keota in seventh, Porter Cave of Keota in eighth, Katy Smoot of Davis County in ninth, and Vinny Westphal of English Valleys in tenth.
Sigourney, Keota, Davis County, and the other top five teams from the Southeast District will advance to the state soil judging competition on Thursday, October 8th at Iowa State University in Ames.
