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By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal

Ronnie Holladay and Holladay Farms in Lowndes County’s Trickem Community near White Hall hosted the State FFA Future Farmers of America Land Judging Contest on Wednesday, March 8.

Teams from around the state were treated to lunch at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building in White Hall prior to the judging competition which began at the Holladay Farms at about 12:30 p.m.

The top four teams were Elkmont High School first, Curry, second, Falkville, third and Douglas, fourth.

Rounding out the teams were Millry, fifth, Brantley, sixth, Lincoln, seventh, White Plains, eighth, Benjamin Russell, ninth, Horseshoe Bend, 10th, Enterprise, 11th, and G. H. Bryant Avc Gold, 12th.

Pam Mason, state resource inventory coordinator of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service in Alabama, said her organization sponsored the event.

She said Judging was done by herself, Lawrence McGhee, the state soil scientist, Tibor Horvath, the state agronomist, and Timothy Albritton the state staff forester.

Mason said the top team goes to national competition in Oklahoma.

McGhee explained that the land was judged in four categories, home site, crop land, forest land and pasture land, “And the students grade the sites.”

McGhee said the students look at soil characteristics, how soil drains and the behavior of the soil for a particular practice.

Holladay of the Lowndes County Soil &Water Conservation District, who hosted the competition at his farm in Trickem said, “We are glad to host the state FFA Future Farmers of America Soil and Land Judging Contest.”

He said each of the teams that participated Wednesday won their district event. “It is a pretty big honor for us to be able to host this here for the state team.”

Holladay said a student from each of the 12 teams goes to each hole of dirt to judge and that no two individuals are together.

As an added treat Horvath did soil demonstrations for the students to show how various soil types responded to rain and how well or poorly they drained.