MONROE — The 2019 Green County Land Judging Contest was held July 22 at the Gough-Bader farm, located about three miles northwest of Monroe. 

Those participating were FFA students from Black Hawk, Cassville, Cuba City, Lake Mills, Lancaster, Monticello, Potosi and Shullsburg. 

Students reviewed four soil pits and evaluated soil properties, estimated slope, ranked land classes, and recommended conservation practices in the contest. 

The results are as follows: Top Individual was Tatum Baumgartner of Black Hawk, second place went to Natalie Roe of Monticello, third was Caden Vaassen of Lancaster, fourth was Bailey Hagen of Black Hawk, and fourth place went to Levi Hampton of Cassville. In team results, Cassville placed first, Black Hawk second, Monticello third, Lancaster fourth, and Potosi fifth.

The group is grateful to Rufer and Son who dug pits for the contest, Kevin Traastad of the Natural Resources Conservation Service who served as the official judge of the contest, Monroe Moose Lodge provided lunch for everyone after the contest and the Bader family for hosting the contest. 

The following day the Wisconsin state land judging contest was held in Watertown. There were 12 teams that participated. 

Top area individual placings were Natalie Roe, Monticello, first place; Sam Meier, Black Hawk, second place; Bailey Abney, Black Hawk, third place; Bailey Hagen, Black Hawk, eighth place; and Tatum Baumgartner, Black Hawk, tenth place. 

In team results, Black Hawk placed first, Cassville, second, Lancaster, third, Monticello, fourth, and Cashton, fifth. These five teams qualified to attend the national land judging contest in Oklahoma next spring.