Liberty-Benton FFA news

Derek Johnson placed fourth out of 194 individuals who qualified for the state urban soil judging competition. Johnson led his team to a fifth place finish in the State of Ohio out of 51 teams that earned the right to compete at this statewide career development event.

Other members of the Liberty-Benton FFA urban soil judging team were Ashley Hunker, Destiny Adams, and Keith Van Horn. Mr. Dave Reese, coach of this team, will receive a team banner and an individual plaque at the State FFA Convention in May.

The state soils career development event was held in Licking County on Oct. 13, 2007. The local FFA chapter would like to thank Moorhead Farms for providing land for practice pits and Kenny Karhoff Excavating for digging and filling in the practice pits used by the members this past soil judging season.

There are two different divisions in soil judging, rural and urban. The rural team is responsible for knowing texture, slope, erosion, drainage, and depth of soil. They must then recommend proper practices for agricultural use. There is also a written test that includes general soils knowledge and use of county soil survey books.

Members on the urban team must be able to identify slope, textures, landform, seasonal high water table, flooding, bedrock and other physical properties before recommending proper practices for urban use. This site evaluation is also followed by a written test.