TAMUK Hosts Region IV Collegiate Soil Judging Contest

Texas A&M University Kingsville

KINGSVILLE, TEXAS (News Release) — The Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) hosted a record 50 students from Texas A&M University (TAMU), Tarleton State University (TSU), West Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Louisiana State University (LSU) for the 2026 Region IV Collegiate Soil Judging contest from Oct. 18-23.

Teams spent the first three days of the week preparing for the Thursday competition by visiting 13 practice pits in areas surrounding the TAMUK campus.

The competition consisted of four individually judged pits that participants would rotate through and examine throughout the day and one team judged pit. Contestants’ findings were scored in five parts: Soil Morphology, Soil Profile Characteristics, Site Characteristics, Soil Classification and Interpretations.

“When you walk on the soil, like we're doing right now, you don't know what's underneath,” said Dr. Sanku Dattamudi, TAMUK soil judging coach and assistant professor of soil science and agroecology. “It's only when you dig a pit and make a slice through the soil that you begin to understand its layers and what they contain. Soil holds so many mysteries, and you want to unveil those mysteries. The students go out into the field, examine the soil and record what they find on their scorecards. Those evaluations are then used in the competition.

“The main objective of this contest is to get more students interested in the soil science program and help them understand how beautiful soil is,” he added. “If you go outside and look at the soil, everything we grow depends on it, right? All the crops we grow and everything we eat depend on soil.”

Advancing to the national competition was LSU, which finished as the top overall team, followed by TAMU and Texas Tech.

While it was the host institution and did not participate, the TAMUK soil judging team helped coordinate in the months leading up to the event and through to the end, digging multiple practice pits, competition pits, while characterizing soil and prepping scorecards.

Though no competitive awards were earned, the College of Agriculture felt the real prize was getting to interact with region students, discuss the TAMUK programs and show what South Texas soil had to offer.

“It was a blast. Meeting all of these agriculture kids from all over the southern region,” said Dr. Greta Schuster, professor of Integrated Pest Management and Plant Pathology. “Talking to them about their futures, many were interested in research and possible graduate programs. We were able to show off our soils in South Texas. The competitors met with many of our students who helped with the contest and our students were proud to have been a part of this. I was proud of our TAMUK students and how hard they worked to make this a success.”

All photos courtesy of Texas A&M University Kingsville.