From left are Aaron Beer, Ryan Schlipf, Sarah Harden and Seth Helfers. (Photo provided)

A Wawasee FFA soils judging team will be competing in the National Land Judging Contest in Oklahoma in the spring of 2013. The team of Ryan Schlipf, Seth Helfers, Sarah Harden and Aaron Beer qualified by placing fourth in the 4-H division of the 2012 Indiana State Soils Contest.

The contest was held near Batesville in southern Indiana. Two other Wawasee FFA teams also competed. Jake Templin, Brittany Ryckman, Kevin Schlipf and Chris Fleming finished 10th, while Bria Floyd, Kylie Fleming, Kaeli Long and Mason Germonprez also competed.

In soil judging, students learn to identify physical features of the soil such as drainage, texture, slope, landform, parent material and limiting layers. They then complete a scorecard to explain the best management practices for the agricultural site and a separate scorecard to rate the suitability of the site as a potential home site.