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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/10/03
2003 Land Judging Contest Winners Honored
First Place Results Noted

Oklahoma City - Over 140 teams of teenage FFA and 4-H members competed in the 52nd annual National Land and Range Judging Contest, held May 7-9, according to contest cochairman Royce Casey, of Kiowa, Okla. Casey is president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, the contest's principal sponsor. "We had teams from over 35 states competing this year," Casey said.

Casey notes the idea of a land judging contest was invented by three Oklahoma conservationists in 1942. They decided which soil qualities could be judged and developed score cards to test skills. The idea caught on and Oklahoma City has been hosting the national contest since 1952.

The 4-H and FFA participating teams qualified for the national event by placing among the top five teams at contests held in their home states. Casey said the teams match skills in judging the adaptability of land for various purposes including farming, range management, and homesite construction. An adult category is provided to allow coaches, team alternates and others interested in soil to compete. "The contestants take turns examining the soil in pits and trenches dug especially for the contest," Casey said. He noted that the skills the teens test at the contest involve principles that can be valuable in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resource conservation, home building and construction.

The actual contest site remains a secret until contest day, so no one has an unfair advantage. Contestants and coaches gather on contest morning to find out the official contest location. They then travel to the site, with a police escort, in a caravan of over 100 cars spanning several miles. This year's Land and Range Judging Contest was held May 9 at the J.L. Mitch Park in Edmond, Okla.

The event ended Friday night with an awards banquet in the Great Hall of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum when the day's freshly-tabulated results were announced. National championship trophies were awarded to team and individual winners in each category of competition including land judging, range judging, and homesite evaluation. Each category included FFA, 4-H and adult divisions.

In Land Judging, FFA competition, the Booker, Texas, chapter won in the team category and the first place individual winner was Samantha Sasan from Kauai, Hawaii. In the 4-H competition the Barbour chapter of Phillipi, W.Va., was the winning team, and Kenny Davis from Phillipi, W.Va., was the individual winner. The adult category winner was Glen Jones of Denver, Ind.

In the Range Judging Contest, the Buffalo, Mo., chapter won the FFA team competition, and Matt Hanson of Newell, S.D., took the first place individual FFA award. The Butte County chapter of Newell, S.D., won the 4-H team category, and Jeremiah Brunner of that team, placed first in the individual category. Craig Shryrock, Wessington Springs, S.D., won in the adult category.

In Homesite Evaluation, the Southern Wells chapter from Indiana won the FFA team competition, and Andrew Pursifull of that team, took the first place individual FFA award. The Barbour County chapter of Phillipi, W.Va., won the 4-H team category, and Aaron Hill of Union, W.Va., placed first in the individual category. Melvin Trammell from Dexter, N.M., won the adult competition.

Each year, an individual is selected as official Contest Honoree in recognition of outstanding support or contribution to the event. This year contest cochairman Royce Casey presented the 2003 National Land and Range Judging Contest Honoree Award to Alvin Woodruff of Watonga. Woodruff is the Oklahoma State Cooperative Extension county agent for Blaine County. He has been involved with the contest for a number of years, volunteering his assistance in various capacities. He was especially commended for developing and maintaining, with help from his wife Anita, an Internet web site devoted to the National Land & Range Judging Contest, landjudging.com. Rules, guidelines and information about the contest are available there, as well as contest results. Woodruff credited Anita for the web site, saying "She deserves all the credit for landjudging.com, I just provide guidance on aspects of the contest."

Casey credits the OACD Auxiliary, conservation district employees association and Oklahoma conservation districts for helping make the contest a success.

"I would like to thank all the conservation districts, businesses and associations who sponsored this educational contest," Casey said. "It takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and money to put on an annual event like this."

"A special thanks goes to the city of Edmond Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us to hold the contest at Mitch Park this year," Casey said, "as well as to the Noble Foundation for sponsoring the printed program and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for hosting the awards banquet."

Casey said the Auxiliary of the National Association of Conservation Districts sponsored the Social Hour and Dance this year, hosted by the OACD Auxiliary. Members of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts Employees assist with the very vital contest tabulating, which takes place in the few hours between the end of the contest and the beginning of the awards banquet.

In addition to the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, contest cosponsors include the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Oklahoma Farmers Union, Oklahoma Farm Bureau and numerous other businesses and organizations.