On September 23rd the Pella FFA group attended the district soil competition in Knoxville. There were 30 other teams from the South Central district. The Pella FFA group ended up on top of the district, and they are now advancing to state.

Many people reading this are probably wondering what FFA is and what does it stand for.

“FFA is extra curricular activity offered at our school that is student-led, develops agriculture education, and it stands for Future Farmers of America,” said President of FFA Todd Vandyke.

Soil competitions to many probably sound very odd, but it is really a useful competition.

“Soil judging consists of evaluation of certain soils based on it’s slope, position on the landscape, depth, color, texture, depth and many other things,” said Vandyke.

Along with that, the students also evaluate the use of land for houses with basements and septic tanks. The FFA Soil team will go to Iowa State University on October 18th for the state competition in Ames.