Alabama NRCS Staff Host FFA Land Judging Workshop

Auburn, Ala, July 22, 2008

More than a dozen agriscience teachers from across the state spent three days with staff from the Alabama Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office in Auburn in a workshop put together by Future Farmers of America (FFA) Education Administrator Troy Newton.

While much of the workshop was devoted to the clarification and updating of rules for the Land Judging Career Development Event, the workshop was also a valuable opportunity for the teachers to spend time with NRCS staff who assist with the event.

NRCS State Staff Forester Tim Albritton, East Team Resource Soil Scientist Bob Beaty, and Conservation Agronomists Eddie Jolley and Ben Moore held demonstrations on the different areas of the land judging event. The agriscience teachers in attendance used the demonstrations as a chance to discuss how the event could more closely reflect contemporary practices. This was also a chance for them to pick up ideas on how to better instruct their students on the skills needed for the event.

The Land Judging Career Development Event is meant to be more than just a competition, it also serves as a learning opportunity for the students involved. "If you understand land judging, you’ll never buy a bad piece of land," said FFA Education Administrator Troy Newton at the opening of the workshop.

Shane Bryan, agriscience teacher at Falkville High School, saw the workshop as beneficial to all involved.

"This event evolves with changes and trends over time," said Bryan. "Some of the same principles are there, but at the same time, the way we manage the land is different than it was, say, twenty years ago. Understanding how the NRCS staff set up the event is beneficial to us, but from what I gathered it was even more beneficial to them to understand our thought process and how we train these students."

The workshop also comes at the end of Troy Newton’s tenure with FFA. After 40 years of service, Newton will retire in August.