Teams from Across the Country Digging Oklahoma's Dirt

By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Students from across the nation are in Oklahoma for a competition that's been going on for 50 years.

At the National Land & Range Contest, students compete to be the best team in the nation at studying dirt.

"This is the best of the best. This is the world series of land judging," said Don Bartolina, Coordinator.

One thousand teens representing 35 states came to sample a little piece of Oklahoma acreage.

"A lot of them have never seen red soil, red clay, that is red, so that throws them off," Bartolina said.

The "High Maintenance Team," as their coach refers to them, from Tyler, West Virginia, is their state's best team.

"We are pretty much the best in West Virginia," said Casey Miner, who is on the team from Tyler FFA, West Virginia."We have been working really hard and West Virginia usually does pretty great in the contest, and since we were first in West Virginia, I think we have a pretty good shot at being up there."

But for the team from Idaho, it's their first time in the Land and Range judging contest, and they are determined to make their mark even if things seem a little strange.

"It's flat, we're use to mountains," said Jacob Murdock, who is on the team from Terreton FFA, Idaho. "They do it a lot different, so people are use to different stuff than we are. It's just different so you work different."

So, numbers are crunched, graphs are consulted and dirt is still dirt to the uneducated eye, but, to those teens spread across the Oklahoma plains, they're practicing skills they can use for a lifetime.

The teens will spend the next two days studying our soil. The contest will be held on Thursday.