The 73rd Annual National Land & Range Judging Contest was held in El Reno, Oklahoma, from April 30 through May 2, 2024. This national event drew over 1,000 student contestants, comprising 194 teams from 34 states across the nation, including Washington, Maryland, New Jersey, Florida, and Hawaii.

Beyond the competitive aspects, the National Land & Range Judging Contest serves as a valuable opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to explore continuing education and career pathways in the crucial fields of conservation and soil science. As Ag and 4-H teachers registered their teams for competition, representatives from the USDA-NRCS, Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Oklahoma Conservation Commission, NACD, and many other partners and sponsors were there to provide information to teams about career opportunities. The event underscored the students’ potential as future leaders in conservation.

With the threat of strong prairie thunderstorms blowing in, the teams assembled in a timely manner on day two, and, led by the local Sheriff’s Deputy, the students made their way to the secret competition site. After the 5-mile stretch of cars were parked, 1,000 students stood in a field with only the sound of crickets ready to tackle the competition ahead. As the truck horn sounded to start the competition, competitors spread across the hillside to their stations, hopeful they would be the ones to walk the stage victorious that evening. After completing the competition, the students returned to the community center in El Reno for lunch then had some down time to review their scores before the evening’s awards.

The contest culminated in a celebratory awards banquet, where participants had the privilege of hearing from distinguished speakers. These included Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur, Jeanne Hamilton, NRCS State Conservationist, and Terry Cosby, NRCS Chief, who addressed the gathering via video before receiving their awards. The top individuals for land judging in the 4-H and FFA competitions were Max Klein from Wessington Springs FFA in South Dakota and Griffin Hart from Barbour County 4-H in West Virginia. The top individuals for range judging were Cooper Davis from Glenn Rose FFA in Texas and Emily Zickrick from Haakon/Bennett 4-H in South Dakota.

“We are deeply honored to host this special event and extend our sincere gratitude to our partners from the NRCS and the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. We also appreciate the support of the 30 sponsors whose contributions were instrumental in making the contest a success,” said Sarah Blaney, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts.

To see more scores from this year’s competition or to learn more about the National Land and Range Judging Competition, please visit the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts webpage.