The National Land Judging Contest:

A Proud History . . . A Bright Future


The year was 1942, and three Oklahoma conservationists were attempting to develop an effective and exciting means of educating youth about soil. They had no idea that years later they would be credited for creating the procedures for what would become the National Land Pasture and Range Judging Contest. Soil experts Ed Roberts, Extension Soil Conservationist in Stillwater; Sam Lowe, District Conservationist at Pauls Valley; and Harley Daniels, Station Superintendent at the Red Plains Experiment Station near Guthrie, determined what soil properties and conditions could be judged and developed score cards similar to those used to judge livestock.

Yesterday

The first state contest was held in Oklahoma in 1943. Nine years later in 1952, teams from other states were invited to the first national contest in Oklahoma City. An Oklahoma team won the contest in 1953 but another team, convinced that it would have won if the contest were held in its state, challenged the winner. Oklahoma accepted the challenge and did well enough out of state that everyone agreed that the procedures used to judge in Oklahoma could be applied anywhere.

Today

The procedures developed by Roberts, Lowe and Daniels have been applied to pasture and range judging as well as homesite evaluation.

Contestants are given the opportunity to attend training sessions for two days prior to the contest to familiarize themselves with Oklahoma soil conditions. Teams from as far away as Hawaii have won awards at the contest. Teens and adults from 38 states currently participate in the contest. All states are invited to send as many as five 4-H teams and 5 FFA teams to compete in the national event.

Contest volunteers show their pride in the home grown event by serving throughout the year on one of 23 committees to make sure the contest continues to be both educational and fun.