BEATRICE – Over 400 contestants from 46 schools in Nebraska competed in a recent State Range Judging Contest, held at the Homestead National Historical Park west of Beatrice.

A team from West Holt won the Senior Division of the September 27th contest, with teams from Burwell and St. Paul finishing second and third. 

In the Junior Division, West Holt, Burwell and Sargent won the top three team spots.

Contestants also competed individually.  The students were tested on grassland characteristics and plant identification of rangelands, which make up about half of Nebraska’s land area.

The contest is sponsored by the Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District, the Nebraska Society for Range Management and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.   Students in Range Management at Southeast Community College providing scoring help, for the contest.  Full results are available at….

The contest was followed up by an October 4th southeast area land judging competition, with 335 students gathering on the Joe and Deb Thimm Farm near Beatrice.   In that contest, Johnson Brock High School had the winning team, with Falls City, Pawnee City and Syracuse teams placing second, third and fourth.

Full results can be found at….

A total of fourteen public schools from southeast Nebraska participated in the southeast area contest….also sponsored by the Lower Big Blue NRD and the NRCS.