Houdek soil and landscape
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Houdek series; the State Soil of South Dakota (original image by Bruce Kunze, USDA-NRCS).
Landscape: South Dakota has a large acreage of productive, prairie derived soils on glacial till (material deposited by glaciers). Houdek is a native soil of South Dakota and does not occur in any other state.
Most of these soils are medium textured and have high natural fertility. The Houdek soil was chosen because of its large extent and its importance to agriculture. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of South Dakota and the South Dakota chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society worked together to commemorate the importance of soil to South Dakota. It is fitting that Houdek loam, a typical prairie derived glacial till soil, was adopted as the state soil to acknowledge the importance soil has played in our State’s most important industry, agriculture.
The Houdek series was established in 1955 in Spink County, South Dakota. The series was separated from the Barnes series which was established in 1914. In 1990, the late Governor George Mickelson signed a House Bill into law, making the Houdek loam South Dakota’s Official State Soil.
The Houdek series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in glacial till on uplands. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 47 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
The depth to carbonates ranges from 14 to 24 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 20 inches and includes all or part of the Bt horizon. The soil contains 0 to 10 percent by volume of coarse fragments as pebbles. Some pedons contain up to 20 percent by volume of stones throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Small grain, corn, alfalfa, and feed grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, needleandthread, sideoats grama, blue grama, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Spink County, South Dakota, 1955.
For more information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/sd-state-soi...
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HOUDEK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#houdek
Houdek soil and landscape
Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Houdek series; the State Soil of South Dakota (original image by Bruce Kunze, USDA-NRCS).
Landscape: South Dakota has a large acreage of productive, prairie derived soils on glacial till (material deposited by glaciers). Houdek is a native soil of South Dakota and does not occur in any other state.
Most of these soils are medium textured and have high natural fertility. The Houdek soil was chosen because of its large extent and its importance to agriculture. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of South Dakota and the South Dakota chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society worked together to commemorate the importance of soil to South Dakota. It is fitting that Houdek loam, a typical prairie derived glacial till soil, was adopted as the state soil to acknowledge the importance soil has played in our State’s most important industry, agriculture.
The Houdek series was established in 1955 in Spink County, South Dakota. The series was separated from the Barnes series which was established in 1914. In 1990, the late Governor George Mickelson signed a House Bill into law, making the Houdek loam South Dakota’s Official State Soil.
The Houdek series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in glacial till on uplands. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the underlying material. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 22 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 47 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
The depth to carbonates ranges from 14 to 24 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 8 to 20 inches and includes all or part of the Bt horizon. The soil contains 0 to 10 percent by volume of coarse fragments as pebbles. Some pedons contain up to 20 percent by volume of stones throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated. Small grain, corn, alfalfa, and feed grains are the principal crops. Native vegetation is big bluestem, little bluestem, western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, needleandthread, sideoats grama, blue grama, sedges, and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: East-central South Dakota. The series is of large extent.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Spink County, South Dakota, 1955.
For more information about this state soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/sd-state-soi...
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HOUDEK.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#houdek