Wisconsin–Stevens Point hosts 2025 National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest

The 2025 National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest (NCSJC) occurred April 27 to May 2, 2025 in Portage County, Wisconsin and was hosted by University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. The 2025 NCSJC featured a variety of soils in three distinct regions at the edge of glaciation in Wisconsin: drift province, drift-crystalline rock province, and the sand-plain province (Figures 1 and 2). 

The contest also highlighted the unique landscapes and land uses in Portage County, WI, including farming (large and small scale), forestry, grasslands, wetlands, and more (Figures 3 and 4).

The contest included soils from five different soil orders (Entisols, Inceptisols, Mollisols, Alfisols, and Spodosols) and points of interest included Histosols and Artesols (Figure 5). 

Congratulations to the 28 teams and more than 250 students that qualified and participated in 2025 NCSJC! ​The teams are listed below in their qualifying region. 

• Region 1: University of Maryland, University of Rhode Island, Delaware Valley University, Penn State University, and University of Delaware

• Region 2: Virginia Tech, West Virginia University, North Carolina State University, University of Tennessee–Knoxville, Alabama A&M, and University of Kentucky

• Region 3: Purdue University, University of Wisconsin–Platteville, Michigan State University, Southern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (did not compete due to hosting)

• Region 4: Texas A&M University, University of Arkansas, and West Texas A&M University

• Region 5: Kansas State University, University of Minnesota, and Iowa State University

• Region 6: Fresno State University, Caly Poly San Luis Obispo, and University of California–Davis

• Region 7: University of Idaho, Utah State University, and Colorado State University

The 2025 NCSJC included four days of practice on eight sites with 16 soils. The contest included a welcome reception at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, a career awareness fair and dinner at the Food + Farm Exploration Center, and a polka dance and brat fry social at Whitefeather Organic Farm. 

The Alternate Individual Contest, which included all the students not in the top four from each team, was won by Clara Betts of Virginia Tech (Table 2). The University of Delaware won the Group Judging Contest (Table 3 and Figure 7).

The University of Idaho finished first in the Overall Team Contest (Table 4 and Figure 8). Congratulations to all the participants!  

The contest had more than sponsors, which provided financial assistance for various portions of the event, including t-shirts, meals, field and laboratory work. We thank all the wonderful volunteers and supporters of the 2025 NCSJC.