MONROE — Blackhawk Technical College was the host of the 2024 Wisconsin State Land Judging Contest held Wednesday, Oct. 9. There was a total of 203 students from 30 schools.
Those participating were FFA students from Argyle, Bay Port, Beaver Dam, Black Hawk, Cassville, Cochrane-Fountain City, Cuba City, DeForest, Dodgeville, Elkhorn, Fennimore, Hudson, Juda, Lake Mills, Lancaster, Milton, Monticello, Mount Horeb, Pecatonica, Platteville, Potosi, Prairie du Chien, Riverdale, River Ridge, Scales Mound, Seneca, Shullsburg, Spooner, Sun Prairie East, and Sun Prairie West.
The students traveled to the Roger and Cheri Johnson farm, located west of Juda. 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 was 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.
The senior results are as follows: Top individual was Isaiah Groom of Potosi, second place went to Colton Nyman of Monticello, third was Carter Bierman of Potosi, fourth was Ryan Stoney of Potosi, and fifth went to Emily Retallick of Cassville. In team results, Potosi placed first, Monticello second, Cassville third, Black Hawk fourth, and Prairie du Chien fifth. The top five teams qualified for the national land judging contest, to be held next April in Oklahoma.
The junior results are as follows: Top individual was River Sahr of Potosi, second place went to Aaron Edge of Potosi, third was Reid Stalsberg of Fennimore, fourth was Teegan Griswold of Fennimore, and fifth went to JP Scanlan of Fennimore. In team results, Potosi placed first, Fennimore second, Monticello third, Milton fourth, and Black Hawk fifth.
Thank yous go to Rufer and Son and Brent Wollin for digging the pits for the contest. Jeff Deniger of the Natural Resources Conservation Service was the official judge of the contest. Todd Jenson of Green County Land and Water Conservation was in charge of running the contest. Jason Thomas of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and members of their state office staff were pit bosses during the contest. Insight FS provided a $2,500 sponsorship that covered the cost of awards and travel stipends to the teams going to the national contest. Monson Septic sponsored a porta potty. Diane Morgan and Ken Engelke, state FFA CDE coordinators, managed the scoring room. Green County Land and Water Conservation sponsored lunch for the scorers. Blackhawk Technical College students and staff helped throughout the contest. Dusty Williams of Blackhawk Tech did the introductions at the beginning of the contest and handed out the awards at the end of the contest. Thanks also to the 20 plus retired Agriculture instructors from southern WI and Ag ED students from UW-Platteville who helped score the contest. And of course, a big thank you to Roger and Cheri Johnson for agreeing to be the host farm for the contest.
