District X Range Judging South – Sargent
On the 4th of September, twenty-one Burwell FFA Chapter members attended the District X South Range Judging held near Sargent, Nebraska. Burwell FFA members who attended the contest were: Seniors: Cody Burson, Colter Wright, Cale Buss, Josiah Koenigsberg, Austin Mayfield, & Kaitlyn Simpson, Juniors: Cort Buss, Ora Chaffin, Cody Marshall, Ericka Larson, Colten Patrick, & Patrick McBride. Sophomores: Kolton Thoene, Mieke van der Walt, Julianne Borgelt, Katelynn Simon, Addison Critel, Tallie Rambat, Liv Chaffin & Myah Wright. Junior High: Hudson Redman
In the Senior Division Colter Wright was the Champion Senior Individual and Cody Burson finished in 3rd Place. Others placing in the top 25% of all senior competitors were; Ora Chaffin 5th, Ericka Larsen 9th, Cale Buss 10th, Cody Marshall 23rd, & Austin Mayfield 32nd.
The senior team of Colter Wright, Cody Burson, Ora Chaffin and Ericka Larsen finished as the District X South Champion team and the team of Cale Buss, Cody Marshall, Austin Mayfield and Colten Patrick finished in 5th place.
In the Junior Division, those placing in the top 25% of all junior competitors were; Hudson Redman 3rd and Kolton Thoene 12th. The team of Hudson Redman, Kolton Thoene, Mieke van der Walt, & Julianne Borgelt finished 5th in the Junior Division.
District X Range Judging North – Atkinson
On the 12th of September, Twenty-eight Burwell FFA Chapter members attended the District X North Range Judging contest held near Atkinson, Nebraska.
Burwell FFA members who attended the contest were: Seniors: Cody Burson, Cale Buss, Josiah Koenigsberg, Austin Mayfield, and Kaitlyn Simpson & Colter Wright. Juniors: Karsyn Bower, Cort Buss, Ora Chaffin, Brookelynn Gideon, Ericka Larsen, Cody Marshall, Colten Patrick & Hayes Plugge. Sophomores: Julianne Borgelt , Liv Chaffin, Tallie Rambat, Katelynn Simon, Kolton Thoene, Mieke van der Walt & Myah Wright. Freshman: Eli Cox, Frank Green & Clayton Wegener. Junior High: Jordee Johnston, Hudson Redman, Regan Schaff & Addyn Stout
In the Senior Division, Cody Burson was the Champion Individual and Cale Buss finished in second. Others placing in the top 25 percent were; Colter Wright 8th, Ericka Larsen 12th, Josiah Koenigsberg 18th and Hayes Plugge 27th.
The senior team of Cody Burson, Cale Buss, Colter Wright and Ericka Larsen finished as the Reserve Champion team at the District X North Contest. The team of Josiah Koenigsberg, Cody Marshall, Hayes Plugge & Ora Chaffin finishing in 5th Place in the Senior Division.
In the Junior Division, those placing in the top 25 percent were: Hudson Redman 4th, Myah Wright17th, Julianne Borgelt 19th, Liv Chaffin 21st, Jordee Johnston 28th, & Kolton Thoene 36th. The Junior Team of Hudson Redman, Myah Wright, Julianne Borgelt, & Liv Chaffin finished in 4th place in the Junior Division.
Area Range Judging – Garfield County
“Seventy years ago, Nebraska range judging started in 1954 in Ainsworth, when Donal F Burzlaff, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Lorenz F. Bredemeier, Soil Conservation Service, held the first range judging with 25 students. Today, over 1,300 youth participate in 6 area contests and one state contest across Nebraska.”
The Area IV contest was held in Burwell on September 19th 2024 with 312 FFA members from 22 Central Nebraska schools participated in the event.
Special thanks to Nebraska Extension and NRCS for hosting the contest, Trotter’s Inc. for their sponsorship, Ference Agronomy and Hayden Outdoors (Johnny and Mattison Ference) for the bottled water, and these volunteers who graded and scored cards at the contest: Nebraska Extension, NRCS Thedford/Valentine, Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, the Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, Sandhills Task Force, Nebraska National Forest (Halsey), Heartland Bank, Pheasants Forever, Farm Credit Services of America, and local ranchers & consultants.
The Burwell FFA Chapter was one of the 22 Chapters attending the area IV Range Judging held in Garfield County on September 19th. Thirty-two youth from the Burwell FFA Chapter attended. Members were: Seniors: Cody Burson, Cale Buss, Kallista Joy, Josiah Koenigsberg, Austin Mayfield, Kaitlyn Simpson, Preslee Stout & Colter Wright. Juniors: Karsyn Bower, Cort Buss, Ora Chaffin, Brookelynn Gideon, Aiva Koenigsberg, Ericka Larsen, Hildy Mann, Cody Marshall, Patrick McBride, Colten Patrick & Rea Petersen. Sophomores: Julianne Borgelt, Liv Chaffin, Addie Critel, Holden Hodges, Tallie Rambat, Katelynn Simon, Kolton Thoene, Mieke van der Walt & Myah Wright. Junior High: Jordee Johnston, Hudson Redman, Regan Schaff & Addyn Stout.
Individually Cody Burson was the Area IV Champion in the senior division, Cale Buss was second and received a Blue and Josiah Koenigsberg was third and received a Red. Other
finishing in the top 25 % of all senior competitors were: Colter Wright 6th, Cody Marshall 10th, Austin Mayfield 12th, Kaitlyn Simpson 16th, Ericka Larsen 18th, Brookelynn Gideon 28th, and Ora Chaffing 32nd.
In the Senior Team race, the team of Cody Burson, Cale Buss, Josiah Koenigsberg and Colter Wright finished as the Area IV Champion Team receiving purple ribbons. The senior team of Cody Marshall, Austin Mayfield, Kaitlyn Simpson & Ericka Larsen finished third as a team and earned Red Ribbons. The team of Brookelyn Gideon, Ora Chaffin, Colten Patrick and Cort Buss finished in 7th place and the team of Karsyn Bower, Hildy Mann, Kallista Joy and Aiva Koenigsberg finished as the 10th Place team.
Individually, in the Junior Division Hudson Redman was the Area IV Junior Champion and received a purple ribbon. Those receiving green ribbons for placing in the top 25% in the Junior Division were: Jordee Johnston 10th, Liv Chaffin 12th, Myah Wright 13th, Kolton Thoene18th, Mieke van der Walt, 24th, Julianne Borgelt 32nd, and Addyn Stout 40th. In the Junior Division the team of Hudson Redman, Jordee Johnston, Liv Chaffin and Myah Wright were the Area IV Champion Junior Team.
70th Annual Nebraska State Range Judging Contest Held in Chase County
Chase County proudly hosted the 70th Annual Nebraska State Range Judging Contest, marking a milestone in one of the state’s longest-running educational contests. Organized by the Nebraska Range Judging Committee and put by local NRD, NRCS, and Nebraska Extension partners each year, 6 area contests and a concluding state contest to promote range management and conservation practices among Nebraska’s youth.
The event saw an impressive turnout, with 197 seniors, 205 juniors, and 27 adults competing from 47 schools across Nebraska. Participants demonstrated their knowledge in rangeland evaluation, plant identification, and ecological principles—skills critical to the future of Nebraska’s rangelands and sustainable agriculture. The Upper Republican NRD was host for this year’s contest with additional support coming from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, additional Natural Resource Districts, Nebraska Extension and many other conservation groups and individual local supporters.
Seventeen Burwell FFA Chapter members attended the State Range Judging contest held near Imperial, Nebraska. Burwell FFA members who attended the contest were: Seniors: Cody Burson, Cale Buss, Colter Wright, Kaitlyn Simpson, Josiah Koenigsberg, & Austin Mayfield. Juniors: Ericka Larsen, Cody Marshall, Ora Chaffin, Kolton Thoene, Liv Chaffin, Julianne Borgelt, Mieke van der Walt, & Myah Wright. Junior High: Hudson Redman, Jordee Johnston & Addyn Stout.
In the Senior Division, Josiah Koenigsberg finished 3rd and received a Red Ribbon and Cody Marshall finished 4th and received a White Ribbon.
Those receiving green ribbons for placing in the top 25% were; Ericka Larsen 6th, Cale Buss 14th, Cody Burson 15th, Colter Wright 20th, Kaitlyn Simpson 30th
The Senior Team of Josiah Koenigsberg, Cody Marshall, Ericka Larsen & Cale Buss was the Reserve State Champion Team and the team of Cody Burson, Colter Wright, Kaitlyn Simpson and Ora Chaffin finished as the 7th place team in the state.
In the Junior Division those receiving green ribbons for placing in the top 25% were; Hudson Redman 15th, Jordee Johnston 28th, Kolton Thoene 36th, Myah Wright 44th & Julianne Borgelt 49th.
The Junior Team of Hudson Redman, Jordee Johnston, Kolton Thoene, & Myah Wright finished as the 7th place team in the Junior Division.
