LETTS, Iowa–The Louisa-Muscatine soil judging team, consisting of Jake Schlutz, Emmy Fuller, Nathan Whittaker, Cami Shoultz, Mogan Nowak, and Ty Slater, placed first overall at the South Sub-Districts soils evaluation contest held in Louisa County on Oct. 1. Jake earned top place overall individual out of 80 students for the sub-district event, Nathan placed second, Cami placed 5th, Emmy Fuller placed 6th, Morgan placed 7th, and Ty placed 22nd.
The team then moved onto the Southeast District FFA soils evaluation contest where they placed third overall as a team. This contest took place in Muscatine Oct. 5-6. The top five teams qualified for the State FFA soil judging contest at Iowa State University in the spring of 2021. In the contests, students had to identify soil landscape positions, horizons, textures, structures, and colors. Based on the characteristics of the soil, they made recommendations on how to manage the soil agriculture and building purposes.