A team of senior Georgia 4-H’ers from Barrow County won first place at the Georgia 4-H State Land Judging Contest, held at the University of Georgia Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm in Watkinsville.
Land judging teaches youth how to evaluate, protect and improve land, with an emphasis on conservation and responsible land use. Competitors study soil structure, erosion, soil classification and appropriate land treatments.
Barrow County team members Oliver Chang, Colton Thornton, Grace Ellis and Evan Medina, along with top individual competitor Anna Luga of Ben Hill County, became the first Master 4-H’ers of the 2026-27 Georgia 4-H program year.
This judging event is a hands-on learning experience where youth get their hands dirty to determine soil properties such as topsoil texture, slope, effective depth, drainage and permeability. Contestants use these properties to grade and rank sample land classes. Faculty from UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) contribute to the 4-H training curriculum and advise youth on how they can use the skills they learn in the future.
The program connects youth from urban and rural communities to natural resource conservation efforts across Georgia. At the Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm, 4-H’ers assessed on-site soil pits that are characteristic of the state’s Piedmont region, which is situated between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north and the Coastal Plain to the south. Tifton-based CAES faculty prepared soil trays that reflect the Coastal Plain land profile for youth to examine.
Craven Hudson, Georgia 4-H specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, credits the success of the program in part to a longstanding partnership with the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. Contributing expertise to the program are faculty and staff Doug Amaral, Matt Levi, Matthew Thibodeaux, Gabe Barnhart, Jessica Barb, retired Extension soils and fertility specialist Glen Harris, and graduate student researchers Jason Wheatley and Shea Hoffman.
Learning the tools for conservation
“Encouraging 4-H’ers to care for and protect our land resources is important for the continued success of agriculture in Georgia,” Hudson said.
Sixty competitors from nine counties participated in the 2026 state contest. Junior teams are made up of youth from fourth grade to eighth grade and senior teams are ninth through 12th grade 4-H’ers. The first-place junior team from Coweta County included Alex Hammond, Flint Romine, Abby Scott and Max Stone.
Additional winners included Coweta County’s senior team in second place and Habersham County’s senior team in third place. Seminole County’s junior team placed second, while Worth County’s junior team placed third. Flint Romine from Coweta County was the first-place overall junior individual winner.
Barrow County will represent Georgia 4-H at the 2027 National Land and Range Judging Contest in Oklahoma.
Georgia 4-H empowers youth to become true leaders by developing necessary life skills, positive relationships and community awareness. As the state’s premier youth leadership organization, 4-H reaches hundreds of thousands of people annually through UGA Extension offices and 4-H facilities.
For more information about getting involved with land judging and Georgia 4-H, contact your local UGA Extension office or visit georgia4h.org.
