Tribune staff reports

The Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual Soils Judging Contest was conducted Sept. 12 on the farm of Don and Barb Cummings.

A team with the Brownstown Central High School FFA chapter won the contest. Members of that team were Carter Tape, Ashley Kuhlman, Matthew Stuckwisch and Dakota Trowbridge.

The Trinity Lutheran High School FFA team of Jack Wischmeier, Miranda Murphy, Chad Stuckwisch and Victor Hackman placed second, and the Brownstown Central High School FFA team of Andrew Kellermeier, Logan Laney and Tucker O’Neill placed third.

Individual winners were Kuhlman, first; Tape, second; Murphy, third; Trowbridge, fourth; and Hackman, fifth.

The first- and second-place junior teams were from Seymour High School.

Seymour Middle School had two teams. Members of the first-place junior team were Max Claycamp, Lyra Claycamp, Ashley Trujillo and Bridget Marshall. Second-place junior team members were Siera Fletcher, Josilyn Daily and Maggie Newkirk.

John Bowen, soil scientist from Chestnut Ridge Consulting, helped with locating the site for judging, determining where the pits should be dug, prejudging the pits and then critiquing the pits with the students after the contest was over.

Thirty-six students from Brownstown Central, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran high schools participated in judging three soil pits for nine physical features, such as slope, soil texture, erosion and drainage, to recommend cropping sequences, soil and water, septic and home site management practices.

Brownstown Central High School had 13 participants, Seymour High School had 23 participants and Trinity Lutheran High School had 12 participants.