The University of Missouri soil judging team competed in the Region 5 contest in early October, finishing second place overall. Iowa State University hosted the event, which featured seven teams and more than 50 students.

Aleksandra (Alex) Kalisz, a junior environmental sciences student, finished second place among individual contestants. The scores from both individual and team competitions were used to determine team rankings.

Each team in the competition practiced at various soil pits throughout the area to gain an understanding of soils and landscapes. The individual portion took place in the morning and team competition took place in the afternoon. Students were tasked with correctly identifying, evaluating, classifying and describing soil profiles in previously unseen soil pits and also rated the soils for land use.