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AMES, Iowa — The student soils judging team from Iowa State University brought home a first place finish from a recent regional competition in Minnesota. The overall win was buoyed by a first place finish in the team judging portion of the event and a second place finish by junior Nathan Anderson, Aurelia, in the individual competition.

The win in the American Society of Agronomy Region 5 Soil Judging Contest qualifies the Iowa State students to compete at the 2009 national competition in Springfield, Missouri next spring. The Iowa State team beat out eight other Midwest schools for the top prize.

The soil judging contests allow students to gain direct experience with soils and land use in other regions, increase their overall knowledge and experience level and learn cooperative decision making skills. This year’s regional competition was hosted by the University of Minnesota on soil sites near Duluth, Minn. At the contest sites, students wrote detailed descriptions of the soil horizons, classified soils according to the U.S. soil taxonomy, determined geological characteristics of the sites, made topographic and hydrologic measurements and interpreted soil properties for agricultural and urban land use.

The ISU team members are Nathan Anderson, Aurelia; Sara Linn, Correctionville; Jenny Richter, Afton; Leah Ruff, Farmersburg; Eric Schultz, Lake View; Matthew Streeter, Ottumwa; and Brad Yeager, Delta, Colorado. Jon Sandor, professor of agronomy, and graduate student Jessica Veenstra, coach the team.

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