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4-Hers and FFA members recently competed in the state land judging contest.
Amy Beckham: FFA and 4-H Land Judging. Hello there and welcome to Tennessee Home and Farm Radio, I’m Amy Beckham. Well 4-Hers and FFA members recently competed in the state land judging contest. And for FFA, the Watertown chapter took home top honors. Parker Cowam. a member of that team, shares what the contest is all about.
Parker Cowan: Land judging is a contest where you’re going to try to accurately shoot a slope and measure the degree of that slope while also rating a land site of how well you could plant crops or build a house, or just whatever that land could be used for.
Amy Beckham: Parkers says he was more or less talked into doing the contest the first time, however since then, he’s done it every year and is now considering it as a career.
Parker Cowan: After doing it for three years, I kind of feel like I want to go to college and get a soil science degree, so I can do something like this as a full time job.
Amy Beckham: Tipton County 4-H took home top honors on the 4-H side of the contest, and Isaac Smith of that team was named the top high individual. Much like Parker, Isaac didn’t think much of the contest at first, but is now looking into it for his future.
Issac Smith: Last year when it was brought up to me I never really thought it would be anything worth doing. And now I’m starting to look at it. My father is a farmer and I think if I was to get into it, scouting land and land judging might be something I’m looking forward to.
Amy Beckham: Both teams will head to Oklahoma to represent Tennessee at the national contest. And Isaac provides some insight into how excited the team is for that experience.
Issac Smith: We’re ready for Oklahoma. We were ready the first day we walked in here, first practice we had our hopes up, we were ready for this. We were saying Oklahoma was only one competition away. And we proved it with number one here, and I’m happy that I made it as far as I did. And all I can say is thanks to my advisor for being there for me all the time.
Amy Beckham: Tipton County’s advisor is Jerry Johnson and Watertown’s is Jason Bradshaw. Congratulations to both coaches and teams for a job well done. Thanks for joining us everyone. For Tennessee Home and Farm Radio, I’m Amy Beckham.
