FREDERICKTOWN — Recently the Fredericktown FFA traveled to Oklahoma City and El Reno, Oklahoma to participate in the National Land / Homesite Soils Competition.
Team members included Raegan Blanchard, Jessica Cummings, Lane Dugan, and Lauren Neighbarger.
The team has been preparing hard since they qualified for the state contest in October. The Land / Homesite Soil Judging Contest is an educational activity designed as a practical way to teach students to evaluate land to determine its best potential use.
Land can be judged much like animals or crops.
“In judging crops, we look at the size, shape, and quality to determine which is the best,” said FFA advisor Debra Burden. “Similarly, when judging land, we look for clues that tell us how well the land can be used for urban purposes.”
Soil characteristics, climate, and topography are good clues to the soil’s capabilities, but close examination of the soil texture, structure, depth, permeability, degree of erosion, slope, drainage, shrink-swell, seasonal high water table, and flooding potential are necessary to classify the land into capability classes.
In homesite judging, the major factors affecting how the land can be used must be determined.
These factors are used to correctly recommend practices associated in the following categories: Foundations for Buildings, Lawns and Landscaping, Septic Systems, and Sewage Lagoons.
After the contest was over the team enjoyed an awards banquet at the Canadian Expo Center.
While on the trip the team was also able to take advantage of some educational stops along the way from a tour of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky, the Botanical Gardens at Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Fort Worth Historical Stockyards and Cattle Drive, walked the catwalk at the Worlds Largest National Stockyards in Oklahoma, toured the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, visited the Pioneer Woman Merchantile, and even stopped by the St. Louis Arch on the way home.
The team finished 47th overall. The top five teams in each state are eligible to compete.
There were 181 teams in the events representing 33 states so overall they did a fantastic job.
The Fredericktown FFA Advisor is Debra Burden.