Staff writer
On Oct. 7, more than 20 schools sent their FFA teams to Marion for the South Central Area Land Judging contest.
Marion High School finished first as a team. Individually, Nick Klenda finished second with 346 points, Eric Vogel was sixth with 313, and Jessie Taylor was ninth with 309.
Students judged the soil of Gene Chizek and Charles Holub on two different categories — the ability to farm and the suitability of the land for a house.
Students had to analyze the soil in five different categories — slope, depth, surface run off, and permeability. Each competitor then had to give the soil one of eight classifications based on their data and recommend vegetative treatments.
In the second category, competitors had to determine whether the soil could hold a foundation. They also had to determine what type of plumbing the home needed: sewer lagoon or septic tank.
There were up to 500 points possible for each competitor. Teams were judged based on cumulative scores of all members.
Klenda finished 15 points behind winner Parker Wedel of Buhler.
MHS FFA adviser Mark Meyer said that judging, in this case by Emporia soil scientist Don Gastineau, can be difficult. While each category is worth a few points apiece, wrong answers in some categories can have a snowball effect.
“Slope is worth five points,” Meyer said. “But if you get the slope wrong, you will get the classification wrong, and if you get the classification wrong, you’ll make the wrong recommendations for mechanical and vegetative treatments.”
Because MHS won the state competition, the team will move on to the National Soil Judging competition April in Oklahoma City.