Soils team places 9th nationally
By By Nancy Vander Schaaf
nanrvs@gmail.com
Date Modified: 06/17/2010 9:13 AM
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PAULINA, Iowa —South O'Brien FFA soils team recently placed 9th in the nation.
Team members, Andrew Koehlmos, Cody Rehder, Madison Lange and Eric Magnussen traveled to Oklahoma City to compete in the 59th National Land and Range Judging Contest. The event was May 4 to 6.Koehlmos, Rehder and Lange are seniors. Magnussen is a sophomore.
"We've taken teams to nationals before, but we've never been in the top 10 before," says Eric Kumm, FFA advisor.
"It's one thing to qualify and go down there, but it's another to actually do well," says Eric Magnussen.
"We started soil judging when we were freshmen," says Andrew Koehlmos. "Because we like playing in the dirt," explains Cody Rehder.
"My sister did soil judging, so I thought it would be good to do," says Madison Lange. "But I wasn't expecting to do so well."
"A lot of people don't realize how competitive these events are," says Kumm. "97 teams competed," added Rehder, "370 students." With the 4-H teams included, approximately 650 students were involved in the competition.
"It's quite something to see this massive group of people going down to the pit," says Koehlmos."
Four pits are dug for judging; they range anywhere from 1 foot to 40 inchesdeep, depending on the depth of the soil, but not deeper than 40 inches.
"We fill out score cards on slope, soil texture, erosion, runoff, and internal drainage," says Koehlmos.
"Then there's the soil capability classes," says Magnussen.
"It's how you can use the land," clarifies Rehder.
The students have to evaluate if the soil is good for farming, good for basements, good for septic tanks, or just good for pasture.
"The location of the pits is like top secret info," says Magnussen.
Nobody knows where the actual pits for judging are at, until that day.
"We practiced all morning, on Tuesday and Wednesday, at the practice pits," says Kumm. Not to mention the months of studying soil manuals, pictures, and old score cards throughout the year in preparation.
One comment expressed by all, "Oklahoma soil is way different than Iowa soil… and RED!"
"In Iowa, there's not that much variability in soils, but in Oklahoma you have absolute extremes and in a small area," says Magnussen.
"Some can be black all the way down and others are like a sandbox," adds Koehlmos.
So, what was the hardest part of the contest?
"In Iowa, the test part was the hardest, the fine meticulous details you just read over," says Rehder.
"The texture classes, because you have to estimate by hand," " says Magnussen.
There was no question, though, about what was most challenging at the national competition: "The slope," says Lange.
"In Oklahoma, they tell you that the stakes are 100 feet apart, and that's it," says Magnussen. "And you have to guess the slope."
"This should help me prepare for my career field," says Koehlmos, who hopes to become a soil conservationist.
Lange is interested in range management, Rehder, wildlife conservation, and Eric Magnussen, farming. They all see benefits of having knowledge about soils.