Soil Judging

Janette Porter and I served as the scoring officials for the Section 11 FFA soil judging cotest held in Brown County today.  I always enjoy the chance to  interact with future agriculturalists.  It was kind of a  long drive, but it is also a good chance to look at soils in pits rather than a probe core.  I am not sure how long this activity has been a part of FFA, but I attended my first contest in 1969.  I have been involved in soil judging off and on ever since.  I can't say how many contests.  Some years there were many and some years one, and some years none.

Practice Pit

Permit Requirements For Septic Discharges.

Maybe this is not timely, but I have not written about it, so....  New private sewage disposal regulations took effect in 2014.  Since most farmers have a septic tank and filter field, it seems an appropriate topic.  New and replacement systems need to have a soil investigation completed in order to get a permit from your county regulators.  This requirement is new in some counties.  In some counties, the soil investigation is required before a building permit will be issued.  In other counties, I sometimes do investigations as the home is being built.

Most Illinois soils are not well suited to septic tank filter fields.  Some soils have drainage issues.  Some have permeability issues.  Some have both.  One of the popular ways to overcome the limitations in the past has been to install an aeration system with a surface discharge.  Under the new law, an NPDES permit may be required if you discharge into Waters of the United States. Waters of the United States is broadly defined and interpreted so surface discharges are to be avoided where possible.  An article from FarmWeek News has more information. Click on the link.

Year of Soil (Urban Life)

My 2015 Soil Planner has information about soils supporting urban life.  I once had the privileged of listen to Dr. Francis Hole speak and entertain on the subject of soil.  Dr. Hole's definition of soil is - "Soils is what we walk on."  That is one of the things I think of when I think of urban soils. He said that all surfaces imitate soil in some way.  One of  his examples was that a carpet imitates a lawn.  Another was that a sidewalk imitates a caliche soil.  Urban soils tend to be churned up and disturbed by human activity. Even when we use soil to support our human activity, it is still key to our lives.

The calender also mentions urban farming.  The term urban farming is gaining popular support.  While I don't believe that cities will feed themselves with urban farming, I applaud the effort.  growing things is therapeutic.  Some people like pets, I prefer plants.  I have been planting garden since I was an 8 year old 4-Her.  Growing food calms the nerves and gives a sense of accomplishment.  Not to mention the enjoyment of fresh vegetables.  There are no vine ripened tomatoes in the store.  You may find them in a roadside stand, but nothing beats growing them your self.  Continue to enjoy the year of soil. 

Most Interesting Area I Soil Mapped

I worked on soil surveys in Madison, Lee, Bureau, and Putnam Counties in Illinois early in my career.  In my  7 1/2 years as an NRCS soil scientist I covered about 150,000 acres on foot looking at soils and attempting to map out the soils I was seeing according to the five factors of soil formation.  The area is part of Franklin Creek State Park near Franklin Grove Illinois.  Lots of geological formations converge near the center of the map.  The state park link above explains that there are three bedrock formations in the area.  The bedrock includes both sandstone 397F (Boone) and limestone 403F (Elizabeth).  Some soils have glacial till and bedrock influences 509D (Whalan) and 761F (Eleva).  361D (Kidder) is a soil formed from sandy loam Illinoisan age glacial till. 243A and 243B (St. Charles) are soils formed in loess underlain by old alluvium on a stream terrace the 570B is also a stream terrace soil, but contains more sand.  The area of 1776 (Comfrey) is a very poorly drained bottomland soil that is extremely wet because of a beaver dam in the creek. the 3451A (Lawson) and 8776 (Comfrey) areas are also bottomland soils, but they are not so wet that they could not be farmed.   To add to the extreme soil diversity of the area, The upper right hand of the map is 280B (Fayette), a well drained soil formed entirely in loess.  I spent a whole day near the center of the map looking at 160 acres of landscape that was very confusing at the time.  160 acres is normally 2 or 3 hours of work.

I don't remember every acre I ever mapped, but t his is one area I will never forget.  Some 25 years after the field experience I was sitting at a table having supper with NRCS State Soil Scientist Bob McLeese and Northern Illinois soils professor Mike Konen. Konen was tell McLeese about an interesting area he had been taking is students to because of the diversity of the soils.  As I listened to him describe the area, I realized that he was describing the area I had mapped many years before.  I told them about mapping it and how difficult it was to define the boundaries. 

It is also interesting that this ecological wonder is located less than a mile away from the Nachusa Grasslands, another ecological wonder.Click on the map below to enlarge. 

World Soil Day

December 5, 2014 is the first ever World Soil Day.  We recognize the importance of soils in our daily lives and look to maintain our soil for sustainable productivity.  Our very existence depends on soils.  Kansas State University put up summary of the importance of soil. Soil Science Society of America Encourages Readers to Know Soil, Know Life.  Dr. Walter Lowdermilk published the Conquest of the Land Through 7000 Years in 1940.  He tells us what happens when we don't take care of our soil.  Chuck Rice of KSU explains the importance of soil in this video. 

You can spot High sodium areas in your field right now.

In Major Land Resource Areas 113 and 114B (the Southern Illinois Claypan Region)  soils often have areas where the subsoil has high sodium.  The pattern is very intricate so soils are mapped in complexes such as Cowden-Piasa complex and Oconee-Darmstadt complex.  The pattern is often over looked, but is apparent when soils get dry.  Water is less available in high sodium areas, so when weather turns dry, drought symptoms appear first in the high sodium areas.  In the photo below you can see the corn in the foreground is fired up to the ears and yield potential is greatly reduced.  Corn in the background on non-sodium soils is still nice and green.  Soil test levels for major nutrients tend to be high in the high sodium areas because lower yields remove fewer nutrients. 

High Sodium vs. Non-Sodium Soils

Southern Illinois Claypan Regions

Spring Sampling Started

I started spring sampling today.  Soil moisture was good.  Weather was not great.  I started on people who are still wanting data for spring fertilizer application.  I am also mapping zones for new clients.  A few people were applying anhydrous today, but is seemed too wet for that to me. 

Soil Judging Contest Today

I helped mark the official scorecards today for the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District's annual soil judging contest.  I attended my first contest as a Freshman in High School 44 years ago about this time of year.  I competed for University of Ilinois at the collegiate level and participated in the National Contest near Clemson, South Carolina in 1977.

Usually a local conservation contractor will dig the pits with his backhoe. The official scorecards are marked.  The students arrive to look at the practice pits and get some hints as to how the judges are marking their cards.  Several soil pits are then evaluated by the students and they are asked to make interpretations for soil conservation, dwellings, and septic tank filter fields.  They are graded as to how closely they match the official scorecard.  The students and teachers seem to enjoy the chance to get out of the classroom.  I enjoy the chance to look at soils in an open pit.  There is no better way to learn about your soil.  It has been a number of years since I helped. 

Pits are dug and judged

Students gather around the practice pit

Students evaluating the soil

Septic Tank Investigation

When searching for a blog, what I am doing today always seems appropriate.  I pulled cores to a depth of 5 feet yesterday in order to classify the soil for a septic tank filter field.  This soil is about as good as it gets in my area.  It does have a seasonal water table at around 2 feet, but perimeter drains will take care of the problem and the owner has enough land to make that work.

How hot is it?

I did 2 Septic Tank investigations today.  I left the house at 7AM.  I bored 3 holes to 5 feet deep and and drank a quart of water and a quart of Gatorade.  Got coffee and went to the next one.  I drank another quart of water and another quart of Gatorade.  I was wiped out.  Got home drank more water and soaked up air conditioning.

Yes I saw some crappy looking corn.  One field near my work at Litchfield had one viable ear in 20.  Not sure if that was the whole field.  Lots of it is getting prematurely mature.  I am looking for harvest to start in 2 weeks.

Just got a report that corn at Waterloo Iowa looks bad.

Septic Tank Investigation

Describing Soil Cores for a Septic Tank Filter Field Investigation

Favorite Soils

My fascination with soils began in fifth grade when my teacher had us fold filter papers for the soil testing lab he ran on weekends and in the summer.  He was not my favorite teacher and yet he started a fascination that has continued for 47 more years to the present.  I learned more about soils when I participated in FFA soil judging contests in High School.

In college, days were spent studying my favorite subject as much as possible.  42 credit hours out of about 124 were in soils and geology.  I also participated in collegiate soil judging and along with learning more about Illinois soils, I got to study soils in Ohio, Wisconsin, and South Carolina.  Burt Ray, John Alexander, and Ivan Jansen, all fueled my passion further.

Jesse Drake @soilduck on Twitter asked if anyone had a story to tell about their favorite soil and why it is their favorite.  I can’t narrow it down to one really, but there several soils in Illinois that fascinate me for various reasons.

I grew up in the Mississippi River Valley in Monroe County.  Two fascinating soils on the home farm are Fults and Landes.  Fults is a dark silty clay underlain by sandy and loamy sediments.  Landes is a sandy loam.   Neither is particularly productive in terms of Illinois soils, but that is home.

Tamalco is a moderately well drained soil on low lying ridges in south central and southern Illinois.  It is distinctive because of the 7.5YR and 5YR hues in the upper subsoil.  It is not a major soil, just interesting to see and distinctive.  Another thing that makes it fascinating is the high sodium in the subsoil below the red layer.

Worthen is a well drained soil with a dark, very thick surface layer. The colors in this soil are classic earth tones.   Much of the horseradish in Illinois was grown on Worthen and its catena mate Littleton, soils in Madison and St. Clair County at one time.  

Cisne represents the southern Illinois claypan region and is worthy of recognition because of its large extent.

Drummer is the State Soil in Illinois.  It is very extensive in the area covered by the Wisconsinan Glaciation.  It is also a worthy representative of the wet, dark colored prairie soils that make Illinois such a productive agricultural state.  Other similar soils that are also very extensive in Illinois include Sable and Virden soils.

Wyanet soils were mapped as Parr when I was a field soil scientist working on soil surveys.  I always liked the look of this soil especially where it was formed in the Tiskilwa Till.  In those areas, 7.5 YR hues are common.  Redder than 10YR is not usual in Illinois at least in matrix colors.

 

Muscatune (formerly mapped Muscatine in Illinois) is one of the most productive soils in the world.  We would like all of our soils to look like Muscatune.  Some similar soils in Illinois that are probably equally productive with modern management are Bethalto, Ipava, Herrick, and Flanagan. 

Soil Organic Matter

When we talk about soil health, we look at things like tilth, compaction, erosion, microbes, and etc.  One easy indicator of soil health is organic matter levels.  Check your soil test reports and see if organic matter levels are going up or down.  Declining organic matter levels could indicate that you are doing too much tillage or removing too much residue.  High yielding crops will help maintain organic matter and tilth.

For additional information check out this Crops and Soils magazine article.  It covers many aspects of soil organic matter.  One of the concerns in the magazine and one I have seen in other venues as well is the concern that removing crop residues for biofuels will lower soil organic matter.  Some long term research is needed on the subject.  It is possible that removing residue, but continuing to use no-till could maintain or reduce the amount of soil organic matter lost.  Why?  A good bit of the organic matter produced by the crop is in the roots.  Not tilling the soil would reduce exposure to oxygen and slow down oxidation of organic matter.  I am speculating here.  That is why I am suggesting research.

Nutrient Removal.

I recently received an article about using nutrient removal rates to calculate fertilizer needs.  It is an old concept that should be put to rest.  We find that a better concept is "what is the fertility of the soil, and is it enough to get through seasonal variations and produce a top yielding crop?" Nutrient removal also does not necessarily take into account variations within the field, although some people are looking at yield maps to determine fertility needs.  Looking at yield maps does no good unless you already know where your fertility levels are.  Also, keep in mind that the soil does not always do what the book says it will.  The best way to determine fertilizer needs is a good soil testing program. 

Soil Type Makes a Difference

Soil Type is showing its effect on crops here.  The soybeans at the top of the hill ran out of water.  Soybeans that are still green in the foreground will be the best yielding in this field. 

Low Potassium Tests

Several articles this fall have been written about low moisture and low potassium (K) tests.  I got some results back from the lab that bears that out.  Test levels actually dropped around 75 pounds per acre on average, but some of them dropped over 100 pounds per acre.  This illustrates once again the importance of soil testing often.  If we were relying on 4 year old tests, this might be difficult to interpret.  P test levels also dropped, but Magnesium went up.  I need to get out my soil chemistry books and try to learn more here. 

It also illustrates the importance of maintaining a high fertility level in your fields.  Despite the lowered K levels, my customer should not be hurt by the lower levels because they are still well beyond the "critical" level.  One reason that we want to maintain high fertility is that levels vary from day to day and week to week during the growing season.  We do not want to be caught short. It just happens that a low availability period has extended into the fall this year.  We have had some rain so I plan to go back and recheck a few spots now. 

Silent Saturday

Sun Drying Samples.  Artificial heat can skew results.

I did not think the farm looked that bad.

Sorento Day 2

I got a good bit more sampling done today.  Rode over about 160 acres of wheat ground.  It was looking good.  Ground was firmed up some, but still very wet.  I would not be sampling if the customer did not want results ASAP.  I saw hundreds of turkeys in one field on the way.  I also kicked up a red tail hawk that was on the ground. Temperatures in the 70's and we got sun and wind after about 10 AM, so good drying weather and we need it.  Sampled in the morning and spent the afternoon defining zones for tomorrow. 

Soybean Cyst Nematode and pH

One of the reasons I write this is that I get journals that the average producer does not receive.  Often the technical jargon makes it difficult for even a crop consultant to read.  As I have said, I am catching up on my reading.  I ran across this summary of soybean cyst nematode and pH in the Crop, Soils , Agronomy News.

Here is another reason to apply lime by variable rate.  researchers at Iowa State University have found that high soil pH often correlates with high cyst nematode populations. They are not sure if the soil pH affects the suitability of the soybean plant to serve as a host or if the soil pH has a direct effect on the cyst nematodes.  It really does not matter.

Here is what I would do about it.  See if you can outline those areas most affected by nematodes with a GPS.  Soil sample the good areas separate from the infected areas.  If the affected areas are high pH, then you need to avoid liming them using variable rate technology.  Lowering the pH over time will also help with nutrient availability in those areas.

Dirt, The Movie

I got my new Crops, Soils, Agronomy News today.  The cover article was about the credibility of soil scientists and the need to promote the Profession.  My big three professional credentials are Certified Professional Soil Scientist , Certified Professional Soil Classifier , and Certified Crop Advisor.  I am proud of my affiliations that provide my credentials.  Professional credentials tell you that the professional cared enough to take a test, spend a little money, and most importantly, continue to learn about their profession in order to keep up with the newest developments. 

The article pointed out that Dirt, The Movie helps promote soil as the source of all life and helps to promote the profession of soil science.  I was fortunate to see a pre-screening of the film at the Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting in July of 2009.  I think I might have mentioned it then.  The movie is cleverly done and combines animation with documentary types of discussions.  While I took exception to a few of the assertions, I think it is a great, entertaining, and educational tool.  View the film and then ask a soil scientist questions about it to clarify certain points.

If you need professional assistance with soils, someone with one of my certifications might be able to help you.  One of the key points of being certified is that you follow ethical standards.  The key standard to me is that if you don't know the answer, you disqualify yourself.   All of my credentials cover certain aspects of soil science.