Gar-Pal land judging champs get ready for nationals

Last fall, the Garfield-Palouse FFA Land Judging Team had two goals they were striving for. The first goal was to continue to remain undefeated in the state of Washington for the third consecutive year. In order to achieve this goal, they had to place first at all four of the 2009 contests, including the state final. Their second goal was to represent Washington State at the National Land Judging Contest.

In May, Gar-Pal members JB Lange, Chad Redman, Tiona Shea, Heidi Jamison, and Missy Johnson will all travel to Oklahoma City to compete at the highest level of competition. At the state competition, they received a combined total of 1090 points. Individually, Missy earned 2nd place with a score of 283, Chad earned 4th with 277, JB placed 5th with 271, and Tiona in 7th with 259. In previous years’ National Contest, Gar-Pal has placed 21st and 16th. This year’s team hopes to perform well on the National level.

In the land judging contest, members must individually evaluate four different sites for it’s suitability to raise crops or its potential use as a homesite based on factors such as soil texture, permeability, erosion, flooding, frost-free days, precipitation, and water table.

They must also determine the depth of a pit without the aid of a ruler or tape measure and also be able to quantify the slope of a hillside with and without the use of instruments, such as a clinometer. Once they have decided what land class the pit best suits, vegetative, mechanical, and chemical recommendations can be made to fit the purpose of the site.

For example, if the site is to be used for the production of Christmas trees, the recommended management practices would include the land being protected from burning, trees will be planted, and the trees will be harvested selectively.