Moapa Valley FFA Competes In State Soils Judging

By IAIN MCMURRAY

The Progress

Members of the Moapa Valley FFA chapter competed in the Nevada State FFA Soil Judging competition on Wednesday, Sept. 22. They went up against chapters gathered from all across the state in Battle Mountain, a lengthy drive for the competitors.

The State Soil Judging competition actually consists of two competitions. First is the soils evaluation contest, where competitors calculate the slope of the land, figure out the texture of the soil, determine the soil permeability and surface runoff, and assess the erosion of the field over time. They must do all of this with their only tool being a clipboard.

The students then use this data to assign the field a land class and to recommend to the flandowner the possible best uses for the land as well as the necessary mechanical treatments needed to optimize the land for growing.

There were four sites for the competitors to judge, with a maximum possible score of 75 at each site.
The second compition is called Homesite Judging. This contest requires students to use the information they gathered in the field to judge the land for the possible placement of a house, sewer system, and a lawn.

The Homesite Judging competition consists of two pits, with a maximum possible score of 92 at each. Each competitor only gets 25 minutes to study each pit. So contestants have to be quick.

In the soils evaluation competition, a competitor from Diamond Mountain FFA placed first with a score of 182. That score was closely followed by Moapa Valley contestants Miriam Werner in fifth place with a score of 137, and Iain McMurray in eighth place with a score of 131. Abigail Dreyfus placed tenth with 115 points, and Teagen Jensen placed 22nd with a score of 66.

McKenna Melvin, who was competing as a member of Team B due to a four person per team limit, placed 21st with 69 points.

These scores allowed Moapa Valley to take third place overall in the Soils Evaluation competition.
In the Homesite Judging contest, Moapa Valley Competitor Iain McMurray took first place with a score of 179. McMurray missed a perfect score by just 5 points.

In third place was Teagen Jensen for Moapa Valley with a score of 104. He was followed by Abigail Dreyfus in fourth with a score of 85 points, McKenna Melvin in sixth with a score of 80, and Miriam Werner in 8th with a score of 62.

Because of this performance, the team took first place in the Homesite Judging contest.
“I am so incredibly proud of my Moapa Valley FFA Soil Team members,” said Moapa Valley FFA Advisor Lacey Tom. “This was the first contest done in-person since the start of COVID-19 and most of the members had never done this before. Fortunately, we were able to compete well at state this year.”