By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Anyone interested in knowing what the term land judging means just needs to ask four local high school students.

This year’s Polk FFA Chapter land judging team knows how to calculate the slope of the land, how water holds in the soil and what treatments need to be done to harvest the best crops, among many other soil science facts.

This year’s team, made up of sophomores Katelyn Allison, Leah Hardin and Hunter Kilgore and senior Hunter Hilbig recently captured third place in the state of North Carolina and are heading to the national competition in Oklahoma City, Okla. On May 3. Only the top five teams in the state are allowed to attend the state competition.

The team will spend a week in Oklahoma for the competition and will also visit the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Agricultural teacher Chauncey Barber, who will be driving the students to Oklahoma, said the students will learn a whole different culture on the trip.

This is the sixth year Polk County’s land judging team has qualified for the national competition since 2003.

This year’s team is the youngest group from Polk County to qualify for nationals. The three sophomores from the team won the state junior division last year but juniors can’t attend the national competition.

“These girls had success really quick,” said Barber. “ They kind of put the pressure on the older ones.”

Land judging includes learning land planning, septic systems, where a landfill can be located, where a house can be built and learning about wetlands and flood plains, as well as different types of soils and treatments.

Hilbig has the most experience on the team as he has attended the state competition all four years of high school. Hilbig’s sister attended the national land judging competition in 2011 and Barber said the Hilbigs are the second family members he’s taken to nationals.

This is Hilbig’s and the rest of the team’s first qualification for nationals. No team member can attend the national competition more than once.

Allison said she joined the team because she has always loved being outside and loves taking the classes. She said she also loves chemistry and since agronomy is closely related she could see herself pursuing a career in agriculture.

Hardin said her sister was in FFA and she’s had others influence her love of soil science.

Kilgore has never known any different, as her grandfather is Richard Smith, a long-time supervisor of the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District. Smith will accompany the team to Oklahoma. Smith has himself taken seven teams to the national competition beginning in the 1970s.

This year’s senior team attended the 61^st Annual North Carolina FFA Association Land Judging Career Development Event in November 2014 in Pitt County after taking all first place honors in the federation and region. They placed third in the state senior division qualifying them for the Land Judging Finals.

The state event began in April 1955 when FFA members met on a parcel of land in Harnett County and held the first Soil Appreciation and Soil Judging School.

The event encourages students in grades 7-12 to analyze land characteristics such as soil type, erosion and drainage to determine the best possible use. Knowledge about soils can be organized and applied in managing farms, fields and woodlands, developing communities as well as engineering.

The team is seeking sponsors for the event, with the team leaving on May 3 for a one-week stay.

Sponsorships have already been received from the Farm Bureau, Carolina Farm Credit, Polk Soil and Water and friends and family members through fundraising, but the total cost is estimated at $4,500. Anyone who can contribute is encouraged to send donations to PCHS, attn: Chauncey Barber, 1681 East NC 108 Hwy, Columbus, NC, 28722. Anyone interested in more information about the trip can call Barber at 828-817-0528.