NRCS and Palo Duro Soil and Water Conservation District help West Texas A&M Host Land and Range Judging

Every year, FFA students participate in land and range judging contests. Many of the sites organized and prepared are a cooperative effort among state and federal agencies and local businesses.

NRCS is one of the main technical contributors to these events. In the Panhandle and South Plains regions of Texas, NRCS is asked to assist with technical expertise to plan and setup the contests in the spring.

This year in Canyon, Tracy Dunn, NRCS district conservationist; Deanna Porter, Palo Duro SWCD technician; Dr. Ronald Thomason, retired professor of agriculture from West Texas A&M; Clint Rollins, NRCS range management specialist in Amarillo; and J.R. Bell helped setup the FFA Range and Land Judging contest sponsored by West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

The range judging contest hosted 16 teams and the land judging contest had 28 teams. Each team consisted of three to four individuals. The top three teams for the range contest were Wellington, first place; Holliday, second place; and Haskell, third place. The land contest winners were Peco, first place, Azle, second place and Klondike, third place.

The contest for the range judging was held on West Texas A&M property, while the land judging contest was conducted on Steve Irlbeck’s ranch, a local Palo Duro district cooperator. Irlbeck’s Ranch was an ideal location for the land contest due to its wide variation in soil types.

As a result, contestants were asked to identify plants and determine the uses and limitations of soils.

The Palo Duro SWCD sponsors a plaque every year to the high individual in the contest. This year the high individual recipient for range judging was Reagan Noland from Wall and the high individual recipient for land judging was Jeffrey Raschke from Quanah.

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Tracy Dunn, NRCS district conservationist in Canyon, presents Reagan Noland, Range Judging high point individual,l with a plaque donated by Palo Duro SWCD.	Students use their plant identification skills during the contest.
Participants score their answers based on recommended land treatments to determine different land capability classes.	Four pits were dug to show the soil profile for students to view during the land judging contest. Students determine the surface texture, permeability and depth of soil.

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