The event will take place Sept. 30 at the newly upgraded Conserv FS facility in Waterman, Ill.
Dozens of students and teachers are already signed up for the event which will also offer students opportunities to learn about careers in Ag, Energy, and Turf with hands-on demonstrations.
"The first principle we learn in teacher training is that the highest form of critical thinking, and therefore learning, occurs when students can apply an academic concept to solve a real-world problem," says Luke Allen, Northeast Illinois Agricultural Education Program advisor. "This event will allow students to not only apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, but it will allow students to learn about relevant and high-demand careers. We could not provide experiences like this without the help of CONSERV FS and GROWMARK. Thank you for helping our students experience the FFA Motto: Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve."
The event is designed for students enrolled in Agricultural Science or Agricultural Resource Management classes. As part of the soil contest, students will evaluate the soil to determine organic matter content, soil texture and structure, and permeability. The FFA members also calculate a soil loss equation that predicts erosion factors and recommends a crop rotation. The final aspect of this event is to make home-site and septic recommendations based on soil factors at the six varying sites.
CONSERV FS, headquartered in Woodstock, offers agronomy, agri-finance, precision agriculture, nutrient management, energy, feed, grain, and turf products and services through its facilities across Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. CONSERV FS is part of the GROWMARK System, an agricultural cooperative of companies serving almost 400,000 customers across North America, providing agronomy, energy, facility engineering and construction, and logistics products and services, as well as grain marketing and risk management services.
Categories: Illinois, Education