<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=134Cpd_0vklKGDH00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=134Cpd_0vklKGDH00" width="920" height="560" ><figcaption>Sidney FFA members at the Area Range Judging Competition. Seven members went to the state competition on Wednesday in Chase County.</figcaption></figure>SIDNEY -- Seven Sidney students are taking their range judging skills to the State level in Chase County this week.Sidney High School Ag student Sara Allard talked about what Range Judging is, and her role in the program."We identify plants and we have to identify what type of plant they are and growth seasons and all the different characteristics of that plant. We have four plant lines so we have 24 plants total," Allard said.Students are also judged on how well they know what plants are to be in a specific area of ground."And then we have ecological sites, which are 20 by 20 squares they have marked off. They have a sheet with what plants should be in there, and we have to compare it to what is in there, and then we have to make a percentage of how similar it is and we have to like, grazed and un-grazed so we say how much has been used," she said.Students also have to determine the soil types of the ecological sites, Allard said."The starting point for most range management decisions is being able to identify range plants by name and knowing their growth habits, livestock forage value and other characteristics," Jerry D. Volesky, Extension Range and Forage Specialist, and James Stubbendieck, Emeritus Professor, Grassland Ecology, said in the Plant Range and Classification section of the University of Nebraska Range Judging handbook.</div></body>

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Sidney range judging students competing at State

SIDNEY -- Seven Sidney students are taking their range judging skills to the State level in Chase County this week. Sidney High School Ag student Sara Allard talked about what Range Judging is, and her role in the program. \"We identify plants and we have to identify what type of...

SIDNEY -- Seven Sidney students are taking their range judging skills to the State level in Chase County this week. Sidney High School Ag student Sara Allard talked about what Range Judging is, and her role in the program. "We identify plants and we have to identify what type of...