A42-L«nc«ter Farming, Saturday, March 11, 2000
Pennsylvania Celebrates 100th
Anniversary Of First Soil Survey
(Continued from Page A 1)
role in agricultural production.
In the soil survey, it is written
that Lancaster County “is the
most important cigar-filler dis
trict in the state and is indeed
the largest tobacco-producing
county in the United States.” It
was also recognized as one of the
most fertile sections for agricul
ture in the country.
Back in 1900, the average
sized farm in Lancaster County
was 80 acres. A barn built in
1900 cost around $4,000, while a
house built of brick or limestone
cost $2,500.
A farmer could expect to pay
$2OO to $3OO per acre for a good
farm in Lancaster County in
1900. Corn averaged 75 to 80
bushels per acre while wheat
yield between 20 and 35 bushels
per acre.
Many things changed since
then, including the purpose of
the soil surveys. The 1900 soil
survey was completed to analyze
the most ideal soil types for to
bacco production. Today soil
surveys are used for almost any
thing imaginable, from storm
water management to subdivi
sions and nutrient management.
According to state soil scien
tist Edgar White, the soils in all
of Pennsylvania’s 28 million
plus acres have been surveyed.
Bedford County was the last
county to complete a soil survey
in 1998.
Now USDA Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS)
soil scientists work to update
and digitize existing soil surveys.
The digitizated surveys are
available on the computer in
Geographic Information Sys
tems and for Precision Farming
applications.
“Soil surveys are infinitely
more important now than they
were even ten years ago,” said
White. “What always amazes
me is the variety of calls we get
from people who are trying to
use the surveys. There are a lot
of state and federal regulations
that address soil type.”
The soil surveys are used by
farmers, engineers, land use
planners, subdividers, county
commissioners, conservation of
fices, farmland preservation
boards, sewer plant designers,
and even college students.
White has worked as a soil
scientist for 25 years, working
for 14 years in Pennsylvania. He
manages the soil survey pro
gram for Pennsylvania. Cur
rently 10 soil scientists work
throughout Pennsylvania to
update and digitize the soil sur
Located in the Hagerstown Loam valley, this farm was included in the first soil survey
in Lancaster County completed 100 years ago. Do you know where this farm is and what
it looks like today?
veys. Their next goal is to make
the soil surveys available over
the Internet.
“We need more soil scientists
than we currently have. But we
don’t have the money to fund
them,” said White.“At the peak
of completing soil surveys back
in the late 19705, we had as
many as 45 soil scientists work
ing on the surveys.”
Many of those scientists were
funded by the state, which cut
the funding in 1980 when most
of the counties were surveyed at
least once.
For a county the size of Lan
caster County, it would take 12
staff years to complete the soil
survey. The process begins with
the soil scientists going out and
walking every mile of the county
to dig and collect soil samples.
Once the soil samples are
tested and identified, the infor
mation is entered into an aerial
map that shows the landscape of
the county. Aerial maps came
into use in the 19405. They al
lowed soil scientists to see ex
actly where they are in the
county.
After all soil samples are
taken, the information is entered
into a report, which includes
general information about the
county, along with specific in
formation about each soil.
Soil information includes en
gineering index properties,
physical and chemical proper
ties, and other features. The
make up of the soil is also
broken down in the book.
During the last soil survey of
Lancaster County, five soil sci
entists worked on the project,
which took them about three
years to complete. This was the
fourth revision of the original
soil survey taken in 1900.
The 1985 survey was taken
for land planning, limitations to
land use, improvements to over
come limitations, and the
impact of selected land uses. It
included 89 map units and 35
soil series.
The soil surveys are funded by
a cooperative agreement the
USDA NRCS has with several
groups, including Penn State,
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture, Pennsylvania De
partment of Environmental Pro
tection, the Association of
Conservation Districts, and the
State Conservation Commis
sion.
According to White, soil sur
veys will continue to become
more useful as soil scientists
continue to collect more and
more data. “We try to monitor
what people are using the data
for and then tailor the soil sur
veys to provide that informa
tion,” said White.
“People are putting new de
mands on the information,” he
said. “So we have to collect
more data to answer new ques
tions.”
For example, pesticide leech
ing has a lot to do with the
amount of organic matter in the
soil. The original soil survey of
Lancaster County included
some data about the organic
matter content. But newer sur
veys include better, more spe
cific information on the soil’s
organic matter.
So far updates and digitiza
tion for 40 of Pennsylvania’s 67
counties have been completed or
are in the process of being com
pleted. Since there isn’t enough
funding available to update all
of the counties at the same time,
White said that the NRCS sets
priorities for updating soil sur
veys.
“We set priorities based on
the age of the existing survey
and the need for a new survey,”
said White. “Then we look for
counties that are willing to help
fund the update and digitization
process.”
If two soil surveys are the
same age, then the NRCS will
decide which soil survey is up
dated first based on the need.
For example, if one county has a
small population and little land
use changes, that county would
take a lower priority than a
county, with a soil survey the
same age, which has a large pop
ulation and a lot of land use
changes.
Although White doesn’t know
of any celebrations currently
planned for the 100th anniver
sary of the first soil survey in
Pennsylvania, he does remem
ber last year when Cecil County
in Maryland commemorated the
100th anniversary of its partici
pation as one of the first soil sur
veys completed nationally.
The National Cooperative
Soil Survey (NCSS) also cele
brated its centennial anniver
sary last year by opening an
“Underground Adventure” ex
hibit at the Chicago Field
Museum of Natural History.
That exhibit is expected to at
tract more than 15 million
people over the next 20 years.
The NCSS also hosted other ex
hibits, publications, and town
meetings to remind people of the
soil survey’s importance.
“For 100 years, soils surveys
have provided value in letting
people know what their soil re
sources are and how to best
Modern technology allows soil scientist Edgar White to
view digitized soil surveys on the computer. White expects
that these soil surveys will soon be accessible to everyone
over the Internet.
With four soil surveys completed on it in the past 100
years, the last including more than 150 pages and 89
mapping units, Lancaster County’s soils have been identi
fied as some of the most fertile soils in the United States.
manage them,” said White, and make them more easily ac
“ That value will grow even cessible to people through the
greater as we collect more data Internet and digitization.”
General Mills and Land
O’Lakes Announce Supply
Chain Alliance
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-
Land O’Lakcs, Inc. and General
Mills, Inc. recently announced
that the two companies have
formed an innovative supply
chain alliance, to engage in joint
purchasing and refrigerated dis
tribution activities.
The alliance is expected to
generate purchasing synergies
and unproved customer service
for both companies and will uti
lize new web-based technologies
from Nistevo.com, officials of
General Mills and Land O’Lakes
said.
"We are very excited about
partnering with Land O’Lakes,
and we see significant purchas
ing savings by combining our
companies’ efforts," said Randy
Darcy, General Mills Senior
Vice President, Supply Chain.
“In addition, the distribution of
our refrigerated products with
Land O’Lakes will allow us to
improve service and reliability
to our customers by reducing the
number of customer stops per
truck load.”
“We have already been able
to capitalize on some purchasing
efficiencies and expect addi
tional savings opportunities over
the next several months,” said
Chris Policinski, Land O’Lakes
Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer for the
Dairy Foods Value-added
Group. “Now, by pooling our
distribution resources, we will
improve service and better
manage inventories for our cus
tomers.”
General Mills (http://www.
generalmiUs.com) is a leading
consumer foods marketer with
sales exceeding $6 billion. In ad
dition to Yoplait and Colombo
yogurt, and Lloyd’s refrigerated
entrees, the company’s U.S.
businesses include Big G cereals,
Betty Crocker mix products,
and snack foods such as Fruit
Roll-Ups, Pop Secret microwave
popcorn, and Chex Mix. The
company’s expanding interna
tional operations include a
worldwide cereal joint venture
with Nestle and a snacks joint
venture in continental Europe
with PepsiCo.
Land O’Lakes (http://www.
landolakesinc.com) is a national
farmer-owned food and agricul
tural cooperative, with sales ap
proaching $6 billion in all SO
states and more than 50 coun
tries. It is a leading marketer of
a full line of dairy-based con
sumer, foodservice, and food
ingredient products across the
U.S.