Agricultural News
Oklahomans Among Winners Taking Top Honors in National Land and Range Judging Contest
Thu, 03 May 2012 23:30:47 CDT
Oklahomans from two different FFA teams brought home national championships in range judging in the 61st annual National Land and Range Judging Contest held near Oklahoma City.
Dillon Langley from Fox, Oklahoma, earned the championship in individual range judging and the FFA team from Union, Oklahoma, took team range judging honors. The Union team was comprised of Brandon Handke, Garrett Rogers, Andrew Houck, and Trey Vaughan.
Handke was the reserve champion in the individual range judging and teammate Garrett Rogers took tenth place.
The only other Oklahoman placing was Jena Kellum from Ft. Towson who took ninth place in the FFA division of the homesite evaluation contest.
The FFA team from Hondo, Texas, won the land judging portion of the contest. Max McCoy from the Ravenswood, West Virginia, FFA took the individual land judging title.
Ben Hart from the Barber County, West Virginia, 4-H chapter was a double winner, taking the national championship in land judging and in homesite judging.
Trophies and medals were awarded to the top finishing teams and individuals in each category during a banquet at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Six hundred and twenty-six contestants from 36 states vied for top honors in FFA and 4-H divisions. Only the top five teams from each state qualified for the national competition. Teams from all across the nation including Hawaii were represented in the three-day event.
Teams and individuals competed in land judging, homesite evaluation and range judging.
Soil scientists and range specialists held seminars at two preliminary practice sites on the first day of the event to familiarize contestants with Oklahoma conditions. Contestants were allowed to further hone their skills on a practice field on the second day.
The location of the actual site to be evaluated was kept secret until contestants were bused to a field near El Reno for the actual competition.
The concept of a land judging contest grew out of 4-H and FFA classes that were held at the Red Plains Conservation Experiment Station near Guthrie in 1941. The first state contest was held in 1943 and other states were invited nine years later.
The National Land Judging Contest was sponsored for 29 years by a local radio station. The station's farm and ranch broadcaster, Russell Pierson, took a personal interest in the contests and was present at every one of them until this year.
Click here to see pictures from the National Land and Range Judging Contest.
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