This fall, the University of Tennessee will be hosting the 2021 Southeast Regional Soils Contest, in Knoxville, TN.  Held every year (with the exception of 2020) since 1956 this competition affords students from colleges and universities within Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, or Puerto Rico an incredible opportunity to travel and learn more about the soils and land use from various regions across the southeastern United States. Participants in this year’s event are Clemson University, Middle Tennessee State University, North Carolina State University, Tennessee Tech University, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee – Martin, Virginia Tech and West Virginia University.  The students from these schools will have multiple days to study the soils of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province over 3 days of practice and 1 contest day. 

This year’s event will take place from October 4^th to 7^th with students having the chance to investigate 17 soils across Anderson, Blount and Knox counties.  In lieu of the traditional banquet, an evening outdoors get together will take place on October 4^th at the UT Garden Pavilion. On the contest day, scheduled for October 7^th, students will be evaluated on their ability to accurately describe and interpret soil properties, characteristics and designated uses of 4 specific soils.  The 5 highest placing teams after the contest will become eligible to represent the Southeast region at the 2022 National Collegiate Soils Contest scheduled to be hosted by Ohio State University.  Those interested to learn more about soil judging may contact Andrew Sherfy (asherfy@utk.edu).