The East Knox FFA Urban Soils Career Development event team recently placed 11th in the state event held Oct. 8 at Three Creeks Metro Park in Franklin County.
Urban team members were Hailey Frazee, Molly Totten, Brianna Goodman and Briana Steinwender. Frazee finished as the 34th individual in the state, with Totten placing 35th, Goodman ranking 37th and Steinwender finishing 70th out of 165 competitors from across Ohio.
East Knox earned a berth in the state urban contest after placing third out of 15 teams in the District 7 contest conducted earlier in Licking County at Felumlee Farms near Hanover. The top five teams from each of the state’s 10 FFA districts qualify for the state, making a field of 50 teams. Individually in the district event, Frazee placed ninth, Totten finished 10th, Goodman placed 14th and Steinwender finished 24th out of 63 competitors.
Before the contest, East Knox FFA placed fourth in the county event sponsored by the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District. Individually in the county, Dylan Springer placed fifth.
In the Urban Land Evaluation event, members determine soil slope, landform, flooding hazard, stability, texture at three different levels, structure in the subsoil, drainage class, depth to restrictive features and depth to bedrock. This information is used to make recommendations to use the site for houses with basements, sewage treatment systems, driveways and roads, and lawns, gardens and landscaping. Teams also take a written test over soils and find soil information from the Web Soil Survey.
The top five teams in the state Soils Career Development events represent Ohio each May at the national contest in Oklahoma. Even though they did not qualify this year, East Knox FFA has been in the national contest 28 times in the past 34 years (the most of any FFA in Ohio). East Knox FFA also has had a soil team place in the top 10 in the state 36 out of the past 40 years.
