Sponsorship funding for the 5th Australian National Soil Judging Competition took place over three days in Toowoomba, Queensland from 26 to 28 September. Twelve teams from Australia and New Zealand’s leading universities battled it out for top honours. The motto for the competition was ‘Developing the future’ and everyone who attended would agree that the next generation of soil scientists was able to develop their soils knowledge, description and classification skills and networking prowess.

Teams were confronted with some unseasonably hot conditions, with the thermometer on competition day reaching 38oC and a stiff hot north-westerly wind. Though the students and organising staff took all of this in their stride and marched on to ensure the event was a success.