The East Knox FFA Agricultural Soils Career Development Event team placed fourth in the state event held on Oct. 9 in Delaware County at the Delaware State Wildlife Area. The team will now represent Ohio in the National FFA Land Evaluation Contest next May in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The team members were Alexandria Magers, Andrew Poff, Hailey Frazee and Nic Steinwender. Magers finished as the seventh-highest individual in the state, with Poff finishing 13th, Frazee placing 53rd and Steinwender placing 90th out of 179 competitors from across Ohio.
East Knox earned a berth in the state agricultural soils contest after placing second out of 13 teams in the District 7 contest conducted earlier in Knox County on the Grassydell Farms. Magers was the top placing individual in the district, with Poff placing fifth, Frazee finishing sixth, and Steinwender placing 18th out of 59 individuals.
The state is divided into 10 FFA districts, and the top five teams in each district advance to the state-level competition, making a field of 50 teams. The 50 teams at the state contest came from nearly 200 teams that entered district-level competition from across Ohio. District 7 is a six-county area consisting of Knox, Licking, Franklin, Fairfield, Pickaway and Ross counties, with 30 schools that have FFA chapters.
Prior to the district contest, East Knox FFA placed second in the county event held at Advantage Ag in Mount Vernon and sponsored by the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District. Individually in the county, Poff was the fifth highest-ranked individual. The top finishing individuals will receive an award from the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District at their annual banquet in December.
In the agricultural land evaluation event members determine soil slope, landform, surface soil texture, subsoil texture, structure in the topsoil, depth of topsoil, drainage class, depth to restrictive features, compaction, infiltration and number of living organisms in the soil. This information is used to make recommendations for soil degradation based on soil erosion, soil compaction, water quality and overall soil health. Best management practices are selected for each of these soil degradation problems. A soil fertility portion of the competition is also completed. Teams also take a written test over soils and find soil information from the web soil survey.
The team will receive a banner at the State FFA Convention in May for placing fifth in the state, and Magers will receive a plaque for finishing among the top 10 individuals.
This is the 28th time in the past 33 years that an East Knox FFA soils career development event team has represented Ohio in the national contest (the most of any FFA chapter in Ohio). East Knox FFA has also had a soil team place in the top 10 in the state 36 out of the past 39 years.
