MONROE — The 2023 Green County Land Judging Contest was held Sept. 27 at the Nick Hartwig farm, located on the northside of Monroe along Wis. 81. 

Those participating were FFA students from Bay Port, Beaver Dam, Black Hawk, Cassville, Cuba City, Dodgeville, Evansville, Fennimore, Juda, Lancaster, Milton, Monticello, Mount Horeb, Pecatonica, Platteville, Potosi, Prairie du Chien, River Ridge, Seneca, and Shullsburg. There was a total of 180 students. 

The students reviewed four soil pits and determined the position in landscape, slope of the field, determined type and degree of erosion or if there is deposition, evaluated soil properties, such as texture, structure, and drainage, estimated slope, ranked land classes, observed soil limitations, checked for invasive species, and recommended conservation practices. Soils ranged from silt loam to sand to clay, which made for a very challenging contest. A perfect score for the contest is 400 and only three of the 180 students got a score of over 300. 

The results are as follows: Top Individual was Sydney Recker, Potosi; second place Aiden Uppena, Potosi; third Reid Stalsberg, Fennimore; fourth Brendon Jentz, River Ridge; and fifth Havanna Jantzen, Potosi. In team results, Potosi placed first, Fennimore second, Juda third, River Ridge fourth, and Monticello fifth.

Thank yous go to Nick Hartwig for agreeing to host the contest, Rufer and Son for digging the pits for the contest. Jeff Deniger of the Natural Resources Conservation Service was the official judge of the contest. Local Land and Water Conservation staff Tonya Gratz, Tess Wallner, and Todd Jenson, as well as local NRCS staff Emily Colson, Ashley Letcher, Chelsea Gruber, and Kristin Fischer ran the contest.