BEATRICE, NEBRASKA -- More than 300 students from across southeast Nebraska gathered on a Gage County farm north of Ellis for the Southeast area Land Judging contest Oct. 8, 2025. Students represented 17 schools, including Auburn, Beatrice, Diller-Odell, Fairbury, Falls City, Freeman, HTRS, Johnson-Brock, Johnson County Central, Lewiston, Meridian, Nebraska City, Palmyra, Pawnee City, Syracuse, Southern, Sterling, and Tri County.

The Southeast Region contest had a 100% participation rate! This means that all schools in the region participated in Land Judging.

During the contest, students evaluated the physical characteristics of the soil—such as texture, permeability, thickness, wetness, slope, erosion, depth, and organic matter—to determine its suitability for agricultural use.

Beatrice High School took top honors in the team competition, followed by Tri County, Johnson County Central, Lewiston, and Syracuse rounding out the top five.

Full contest results are available at nrdnet.org/nebraska-land-judging-soil-evaluation.

The Southeast Area Land Judging Contest was hosted by the Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).