The 2009 Nebraska State Land Judging Contest will draw students from 22 schools across Nebraska to Wolbach in southern Greeley County today (11/3/09). Land judging contests instill students with the knowledge required to make informed decisions regarding soil utilization and its potential in the modern world.

Today’s contest is sponsored by the Lower Loup Natural Resources District, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Nebraska’s Agriculture Educators. Several ag teachers and advisors will compete in the adult division of the contest.

To qualify for the contest, which begins at 10 this morning, four-member teams had to be one of the top finishers at one of seven regional contests in October. The qualifying teams come from as far east as Tekamah-Herman in eastern Nebraska to Scottsbluff in the western part of the state. Verdigre will travel from northern Nebraska while Superior and a number of other schools will journey to Wolbach from the southern part of the state.

Land judging is just one of several environmental and natural resources contests and events hosted by Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.