SAN LUIS VALLEY— High school agriculture students from across the San Luis Valley competed in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Range Judging and Plant Identification workshop held on Oct. 4 at the Clark farm near Monte Vista.

The youth educational event was hosted by Matt Sinclair, an agriculture teacher at Sangre De Cristo School near Mosca.

Matt Martinez, agriculture teacher at Alamosa, co-hosted the event and provided lunch for the participants.

The Mosca-Hooper and Center Conservation Districts, and Bill Brinton and Mattea Freel, and the Rio Grande Watershed Conservation and Education Initiative (RGWCEI) provided the funding to support this youth educational event.

The Colorado Section of the Society for Range Management, and Ben Berlinger, Youth Activities Committee chair, provided individual awards for the high-scoring individuals as part of their youth activities program. 

This rangeland educational youth event involved 21 agriculture students representing four FFA chapters in the Valley. Winning FFA teams were Sangre De Cristo, first place; Sargent second place; Monte Vista, third place; and Alamosa, fourth place.

During the competition, students were required to identify 20 range plant species and one ecological site. During the plant identification portion, students had one minute to identify the plant before moving on to the next plant.

At the ecological site, students had to complete a rangeland inventory to determine the vegetation composition and rangeland condition of the site and analyze the condition of the soil surface for protection from erosion.

Judging the ecological site also tested plant identification skills.

Following lunch guest speaker, Bill Brinton gave an interesting presentation about soil health and the five principles of restoring soil health on ranches and farms in Colorado.

Pete and Leah Clark discussed how their grazing management strategies are improving their rangeland and enabling them to work cooperatively with the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. 

The Range Judging Contest is one of many FFA Career Development agriculture students can participate in to test their skills and knowledge learned through their agricultural education classes.

Through the Range Judging Contest, students are tested on their plant identification skills and reading the landscape to determine the ecological site, condition of the rangeland, amount of usable forage, and number of animals that can be properly supported on the land.

FFA Advisors, Mosca-Hooper and Center Conservation Districts, RGWCEI, Monte Vista NWR, and the CO Section of the Society for Range Management made this event a success for all the participating high school agriculture students. A special thank you went to the Clark farm for allowing the use of their farmstead and providing an excellent venue for this educational youth event.