LINCOLN, Nebraska – Students and instructors from 39 high schools met near Wahoo to compete in State Land Judging Oct. 22, 2025. The Lower Platte North Natural Resources District (NRD) hosted this year’s competition.
With sunny skies and calm conditions, students judged at the Lake Wanahoo Recreation Area. The site provided a good variety of soil parent materials for the students to see including loess, glacial till, clay loam, and silty clay.
“It’s imperative we get more young people outdoors learning about Nebraska through hands-on activities,” said Sydney Abbott, Lower Platte North NRD education coordinator. “This contest is an amazing opportunity for students to learn about the land they call home and make real-world natural resources management decisions that prepare them for a future career. From everyone at the Lower Platte North NRD, we congratulate the students who participated in land judging and especially those who qualified for the state contest.”
Land Judging is a high school competition that challenges students to gain a better understanding of soil structure and land evaluation. Teams consist of four students from the same FFA chapter, and a few individuals who qualified separate from a team. Each participant learns how to recognize the physical features of the soil, determine land capability for crop production, and evaluate management practices needed for proper stewardship.
During the competition, students judge four soil pits using an evaluation card to make assessments on: soil depth, surface texture, permeability, slope, thickness of surface and erosion. The evaluation card is scored to determine overall placements for individuals and the team. To compete in the state contest, teams advance from one of the seven regional competitions hosted across the state in October.
2025 State Land Judging Individual Champions:
- Natalie Nutzman, Milford
- Ryan Rempel, Beatrice
- Ayzlee Haertel, Elmwood-Murdock
- Carson Towle, Elmwood-Murdock
- Preston Sjuts, Doniphan-Trumbull
2025 State Land Judging Team Champions:
- Elmwood-Murdock (Ayzlee Haertel, Carson Towle, Grayson Schroll, Cami Dieter)
- Heartland (Riley Quiring, Madalyn Janzen, Lane Farrall, Faith Hiebner)
- Beatrice (Ryan Rempel, Savannah Bolli, Zeb Edeal, Emily Doyza)
- Doniphan-Trumbull (Preston Sjuts, Jon Kovanda, Riley Bishop, Joe Schuler)
- Syracuse (Kaden Knake, Ryan Damme, Drew Paulson, Baylor Borer)
These top five Nebraska teams will advance to the national competition hosted in El Reno, Oklahoma, May 5-7, 2026. For more information on Nebraska Land Judging, visit https://www.nrdnet.org/nebraska-land-judging-soil-evaluation.
Competition photos including team photos can be viewed and downloaded from the NARD Flickr page.