On May 3, four members of North Harford’s FFA left for the Sooner State. While there, they participated in a land judging competition.
Land judging, according to landjudging.com, is a competition in which contestants judge the quality of the land, studying the texture, structure, depth, permeability, and erosion.
The participants from North Harford were sophomores Aubrey Williams, Sierra Martin, and Olivia Davis, and junior Josee Cantin. The chaperones from the school were Mrs. Estevez and Ms. Edwards.
The contestants were in Oklahoma for five days, the actual competition lasting for three of those days. “There were practices held in practice pits on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the actual competition on Thursday,” explained Edwards.
One of the many things the students learned on the trip was the differences in soil between Maryland and Oklahoma. According to Martin, “Oklahoma’s soil is really fine, finer than ours.”
Cantin also commented on Oklahoma’s soil. “The soils are a lot different in quality, soil that may be coarse may be fine here.”
Soil judging is important to many businesses, says Williams. “It can be applied to mechanical needs or farming, and building houses.”
There were things to do other than agricultural related activities as well. The competitors had many opportunities to meet other FFA members from around the country, exposing them to other ways of living. Martin’s favorite part was, “exploring a new place, and meeting new people.”
Davis remarked, “I found out that people in Oklahoma don’t know what Old Bay is, which was weird.” She added, “I also learned a lot about the Land Run.”
The Land Run occurred on April 22, 1889, when settlers flooded into central Oklahoma to settle it. Students learned about this at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, where the awards banquet was held.
In addition to going to the museum, there were also trips made to the Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, a legendary restaurant located in the heart of Stockyard City, the largest stockyards in America, and to Bricktown, Oklahoma City.
There were some downsides to the trip. “One time when we were driving, we saw a trailer full of cattle headed to the slaughterhouse. It was really sad,” Davis said.
Out of 92 teams, North Harford FFA got 76th place overall. Individually, within the team, Martin got first place, Cantin second, Davis third, and Willams fourth.