Region V was the only region in the country to hold a Soil Judging contest during Fall semester 2020. The University of Missouri and Missouri USDA-NRCS hosted the contest and coordinated the logistics of a remote contest (necessary due to Covid-19 protocols) by acquiring and delivering intact soil cores from practice and contest sites from across the State of Missouri. A huge thanks to Dr. Kerry Clark (University of Missouri) and Mark Abney (Missouri State Soil Scientist) for planning and organizing the contest in an extremely challenging year!
The students described each of 5 practice and 5 contest cores over the course of one week, from September 30th to October 10th, 2020. These cores showed the students a wide range of soils formed in different parent materials and under different drainage conditions:
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Practice cores delivered by the University of Missouri
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The students wore masks and followed-covid-19 protocols while working to complete their descriptions of the practice and contest sites. Although the team was not able to travel this year, we worked hard to learn about Missouri soils and landscapes during the contest week. The team took first place overall, first place in the group contest, and congratulations to Geneva Nunes (1), Abbie Clapp (2), Hannah Anderson (3), and Anjel Chavez (4), who placed in the top 10 individuals!
Congratulations to our students for persevering in a difficult year. A huge thank you to our donors and supporters who make everything possible! We could not do this without you!
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Hannah Anderson, Zack Pederson, Anjel Chavez, and Abbie Clapp completing a group core
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Chris Macke completing an individual core
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| 2020 UMN Soil Judging Team |
