Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Preparations are underway for another appearance by the Garfield-Palouse FFA soils team at the national competition, after they won the 2012 Washington state title Oct. 31.
Gar-Pal’s winning team at the state championship event in Warden included top overall winner Jesse Lopez, a junior with a perfect score, earning him a $1,000 scholarship to the WSU College of Soil Science.
The team also includes sophomore Gabe Cocking (sixth in state, individual), junior Chandler Pfaff (seventh), junior Taylor Redmond and sophomore Hunter Woltering.
A second Gar-Pal team took fourth-place. Members include Mitch Jamison, Jacob Arlt, Holly Brown, Matt Dymkoski and Lexi Rodriguez.
A total of 21 teams competed in a field at Warden. Four different pits were dug with a back hoe in which competitors evaluated soil qualities such as permeability, slope, depth and topsoil/subsoil.
The kids gave each soil sample a USDA land class grade from 1 to 8, on a scale depicting high production at the top and low production at the bottom.
Competitors were judged by members of the National Resources Conservation Service.
In the past decade, teams from Gar-Pal also won the state event in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
This year’s top Gar-Pal team was undefeated in four county contests and is now raising money to travel to Oklahoma City in May for the national contest.
“They’re very intelligent, very sharp,” said Buddy Carter, Gar-Pal FFA advisor. “With a little bit of work, they have the potential to do very well at nationals.”
An estimated 130 teams will compete there, with some states such as Texas sending more than one representative.
The state of Washington sends just one team each year.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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