Maryland Soil Judgers Weather Stormy Days at 2024 National Contest

On April 25, the National Soil Judging Contest was held in Ames, Iowa hosted by Iowa State University. Twenty five universities participated from seven regions around the country. The practice pits included an interesting variety of soils that included Aquic, Pachic, Cumulic and Typic Argiudolls, Pachic, Aquic and Cumulic, Hapludolls, Cumulic and Vertic Endoaquolls, Mollic, Aquic and Typic Hapludalfs, and a Mollic Eutrudept. The individual judging was held on a private farm near the UI Horticulture Farm about 6 miles north of Ames, in the heart of the Des Moines (Wisconsinan) glacial lobe where students described Typic, Aquic and Pachic Argiudolls formed in glacial till and colluvium. The group judging was held near the town of Albion, IA, about 30 miles east of Ames, just beyond the Des Moines Lobe, where students described a Pachic Hapludoll formed in loess over colluvium, and a Mollic Eutrudept formed in deep loess. The severe weather forecast for Friday, April 26, resulted in some last minute schedule changes such that both the individual and group judging portions were held on Thursday the 25^th.

Terp soil judger Cole Chapman was the 12^th high individual in the contest (among 99 participants), and in the group portion of the competition, Maryland demonstrated great teamwork and finished in 3^rd place. The overall (combined individual and group) honors went to Virginia Tech Univ. in 1^st place, followed by Univ. of Nebraska in 2^nd place (coached by former UMD soil judger Dr. Judy Turk), Univ. of Wisconsin Platteville in 3^rd place, and Purdue Univ. in 4^th place. The Univ. of Maryland landed at 9^th place (among the field of 25 teams) behind the Univ. of Idaho (6^th), Cal Poly SLO (7^th), and the Univ. of Delaware (8^th). The abundance of Mollisols was new to most on the UMD  team and provided a challenge to the Terp soil judgers, but also helped make the trip such a memorable and educational experience.

Next year’s competition is scheduled to be in Stevens Point Wisconsin toward the end of April or early May, 2025. All in all the 2024 National Soil Judging Competition was an outstandingly educational trip that we will all remember for a long time to come. We extend a hearty “thank you” to everyone for their support.