Nemaha County was the host county for the 2023 area range judging competition. 239 kids from 13 area schools gathered on Wednesday, September 20th to put their knowledge of plants, soils, and livestock to the test. Top finishers are as follows:

Senior Division (Individual): 1st place Grace Kohler (Norris), 2nd Place Leah Christen (Lewiston), 3rd place John Wehrman (Tri-County), 4th Place Hadleigh Stracke (Norris)
Junior Division (Individual): 1st place Jason Wehrman (Tri County), 2nd place Colton Navratil (Norris), 3rd place Kaden Kleen (Deshler), 4th place Savannah Bolli (Beatrice)
Senior Division (Team): 1st place Grace Kohler, Hadleigh Stracke, Brylee McMurry, Logan Brison (Norris), 2nd place: Evan Stevens, Seth Oltmans, Parker Witulski, Ava Bolli (Beatrice), 3rd place Leah Christen, Addison Jarred, Brady Bledsaw, Tristen Ray (Lewiston), 4th place Ava Kniep, Danessa Buckles, Abbi Tuma, Brent Buescher (Deshler)
Junior Division (Team): 1st place Colton Navratil, Olivia Zoubek, Todd Munk, Avery Davis (Norris), 2nd place Jason Wehrman, Jacob Wollenburg, Henry Kapke, Garrett Smidt (Tri County), 3rd place Kaden Kleen, Brooklynn Wit, Makenna Freitag, Hutch Vacek (Deshler), 4th place Savannah Bolli, Grayson Cline, Lizzy Minnick, Claire McGury (Beatrice)

Native rangeland covers approximately 46%, or 23 million acres of Nebraska. Combined with seeded pasture, 50% of the State of Nebraska is occupied with grasslands according to UNL’s Range Judging Handbook. As one of Nebraska’s most important resources, grasslands support the livestock industry by providing forage for animals. Additionally, they provide habitat for wildlife, protect soils from erosion, filter rainfall runoff before it enters streams, and recharge groundwater aquifers. The goal of range judging is for students to better understand rangeland systems allowing them to make good management decisions. Students learn about plant species, soils, and livestock and how they impact each other. The contest has participants identify 24 plant species and report on their life span, origin, season of growth, forage value, and growth form. They additionally evaluate three different range sites, determine range quality of a ranch to make necessary recommendations for improvement, and answer general range and grassland questions.

The State Range Judging competition will be hosted by Lower Big Blue NRD on Wednesday, September 26th in Saline County.