Harney Kansas State Soil

Soil Science Society of America

Introduction Many states have a designated state bird, flower, fish, tree, rock, etc. And, many states also have a state soil – one that has significance or is important to the state. The “Harney” is the official state soil of Kansas. Let’s explore how the Harney is important to Kansas.

History The Harney Soil was adopted as the Official State Soil of Kansas on April 12, 1990, when Governor Mike Hayden signed Senate Bill 96, five years after the grassroots movement to name the Harney as the official soil began. The name “Harney” is derived from “harahey,” a Wichita Indian term for the Pawnee people.

What is Harney Soil? The region that Harney soil formed in has loess (wind-blown sediments, pronounced “luss”) parent material, an upland landscape position, prairie grasses as native vegetation, and little annual rainfall (see ClORPT below). Harney soils are deep, well-drained soils. They are found on upland landscapes with up to 8% slope in some places, but 0-3% is most common.

Every soil can be separated into three separate fractions called sand, silt and clay. They are present in all soils in different proportions and say a lot about the soil texture and character of the soil. In Harney soil, the topsoil or A horizon (the layer of soil that we plow or plant seeds in) is a silt loam. The subsoil or B horizon has an increase in clay, and is a silty clay loam texture.

Where to dig a Harney Yes, you can dig a soil. It is called a soil pit and it shows you the soil profile (Figure 1). The different horizontal layers of the soil are actually called soil horizons. Harney soils occur on about 1.6 million hectares (4 million acres) in west-central Kansas, highlighted in the map below (Figure 2). This does not mean that other types of soil are not found in that portion of the state, just that Harney is very common.

Uses and Importance Soils everywhere are used for agriculture (growing fibers, fuels, and foods for people and animals); support engineering (roads, buildings, tunnels); recreation (ball fields, playground, and camping areas); natural ecosystems (wetlands); and more.

Photo: Chip Clark/Smithsonian Institution Fig. 2 Location of the Harney Soil series in West- Central Kansas. Credit: Smithsonian Institution’s Forces of Change.

2 Fig. 3 A crop of sorghum located on the Harney soil. Credit: Meghan Sindelar

Fig. 1 Soil profile of a Harney Soil. Credit: Smithsonian Institution’s Forces of Change1 .

Kansas is one of the United States’ leading agricultural states, and Harney soils have excellent properties, such as high natural fertility and high water storage capacity, for producing food and fiber crops so most are used for cultivation. Crops grown on Harney soils are very important to Kansas’ multi-billion dollar agricultural industry. Wheat and sorghum (Figure 3) are the principal crops; however, alfalfa, corn, soybeans, sunflower, and canola are also grown. 3 In some instances, Harney soils are used for rangeland, with native vegetation consisting of mixed- and short-grass prairie for feeding cattle and bison herds. Some towns are settled on Harney Soil Management soil. How would you feel if your house is built on the State Soil? Management concerns in Kansas focus on reducing wind Special, I think. and water erosion, and on having adequate moisture for crop production. On agricultural lands, both of these problems can be Limitations solved by reducing tillage and increasing ground cover, that is, While soil underlies nearly everything humans do, some soils leaving more crop residue on the field. Similarly, a reduction of cannot be used for one or more of the uses (discussed in the use soil disturbance and an increase in cover (gravel, mulch, straw) and importance section). This is referred to as a “limitation”. can reduce erosion at urban sites. Soil experts, called Soil Scientists, have studied the suitability of Kansas was one of the states most severely affected by the 1930’s Harney soils for various uses. They have determined that there are dust bowl (Figure 4). While efforts to reduce wind erosion have few limitations to restrict the use of Harney for crop production. been successful, the potential for soil loss remains, especially on The major limitation is due to climate (the lack of natural soils with silty or fine sandy textures in dry areas of the state. precipitation.) As Harney soils were developed under prairie grasslands, they Harney soils have been determined to have limited usefulness tend to have a deep topsoil layer with high fertility. Fertilizer can for construction of buildings or roads because of the type of be added to increase yields and maintain fertility. clay found in Harney may expand when wet and shrink while Irrigation and fallow (not growing a crop for a period of time) drying resulting in unstable and cracked foundations. Harney can be used to reduce moisture deficit problems. Wind breaks can soils are also not ideal for onsite sewage treatment and dispersal slow erosive winds and reduce the amount of the field exposed fields because of the moderately slow rate at which water moves to wind erosion. Retaining ground cover, particularly after crop through them. harvest (Figure 5) is an important management tool to increase The Harney has no limitation for most recreational uses including moisture in fields (by reducing evaporation and by trapping development of parks, trails, and golfing facilities. snow) and decrease erosion by water.

2 Fig. 5 Corn residue on this filed provides ground cover against soil erosion from both wind and water. Credit: Wale Adewunmi.

Fig. 4 Wind erosion during the Dust Bowl which took place in the 1930s. Credit: Kansas Department of Agriculture

Harney Soil Formation Before there is soil there were rocks and in between, ClORPT. Without ClOPRT, there will be no soil. So, what is ClOPRT? There are five major factors that are responsible for forming a soil like the Harney series. These are Climate, Organisms, Relief (topography), Parent material and Time – ClORPT, for short. ClORPT is responsible for the development of soil profiles and chemical properties that differentiate soils. So, the characteristics of Harney soil (and all other soils) are determined by the influence Fig. 6 Harney silt loam profile. Credit: Kansas NRCS of ClORPT. Weathering takes place when environmental processes such as rainfall, freezing and thawing act on rocks causing them to fracture and break into pieces. ClORPT now acts on rock pieces, marine sediments and vegetative materials water it keeps. Deeper soils form at the bottom of the hill to form soils. than at the top because gravity and water move soil particles Climate – Temperature and precipitation influence the rate at downhill. Harney soils formed on relatively flat upland which parent materials weather and, dead plants and animals landscapes. Soils on flat surfaces are more stable and more decompose. They affect the chemical, physical and biological developed than those found on slopes. relationships in the soil. Harney soils formed in areas with Parent material – Just like people inherit characteristics from low annual rainfall, resulting in less horizon development their parents, every soil inherited some traits from the material than wetter regions and therefore are considered young soils. from which it forms. Some parent materials are transported Harney soils often have more calcium carbonate and other and deposited by glacier, wind or water. Some parent materials salts than would a soil which received more rain to wash these are just deposited by gravity (for example, volcanic lava). away. Light colors can indicate the presence of carbonates. Harney soils formed in loess (pronounced “luss”), which is Organisms – This refers to plants and animal life. Plant roots fine grained material (typically the size of silt) that has been spread, animals burrow and bacteria break down plant and deposited by blowing wind. animal tissue. These and other soil organisms speed up the Time – All of these factors act together over a very long time breakdown of large soil particles into smaller ones. Plants and to produce soils. As a result, soils vary in age. The length of animals also influence the formation and differentiation ofsoil time that soil material has been exposed to the soil-forming horizons (Figure 6). Plants determine the kinds and amounts processes makes older soils different from younger soils. of organic matter that are added to a soil under normal Generally, older soils have better defined horizons than conditions. Animals breakdown complex compounds into younger soils. Less time is needed for a soil profile to develop small ones and in so doing add organic matter to soil. Harney in a humid and warm area with dense vegetative cover than in soils formed under prairie grasses, which led to being high a cold dry area with sparse plant cover. in organic matter (fertile) and excellent for crop production. Darker soil colors indicate greater organic matter content. More time is required for the formation of a well-definedsoil profile in fine textured material than in a coarse-textured soil material. The Relief – Landform position or relief describes the shape of well-developed horizons of a harney indicate that it formedover a the land (hills and valleys), and the direction it faces makes a long period of time. difference in how much sunlight the soil gets and how much 3 Fig. 8 The influence of moisture on vegetation across the state. Credit: Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) Fig. 9 Physical geography of Kansas. Credit: Kansas Geological Survey. Ecoregions and Land Use in Kansas The soils and associated land use in Kansas are strongly influ- The physical geography, or landscape features, also influences enced by moisture patterns. The state of Kansas experiences the ecoregions of Kansas (Figure 9). Noteworthy landscape great variation in moisture with an average annual precipitation features include the glaciated region of northeast Kansas where of <381 mm (<15 inches) in the southwest and >1143 mm (>45 mixed to coarse soils are present as well as occasional large inches) in the southeast. This gives rise to the vertical stripes vis- rocks, and the flint hills region where depth to bedrock is quite ible in most vegetation and land use maps of Kansas (Figure 8). shallow. The shallow depth to bedrock prohibited use of plows and this region is now home to some of the largest areas of native Increased moisture in the east has allowed for deeper rooting tall- and mixed-grass prairie in the United States. vegetation and greater soil development. The drier soils of the west support short grass prairie or crop rotations that include fal- With its varying precipitation and geology, Kansas has 8 ecore- low. These western soils also commonly have basic pHs due to gions (Figure 10). Harney soil is found in the ecoregion known carbonates that haven’t washed below root zones. as the Central Great Plains.

Ecoregions of Nebraska and Kansas 104° 103° 102° 101° 100° 99° 98° 97° 96° 95°

25 er e iv 43 Mi 43 25 hit R sso J 25 Western High Plains uth Fork W 42 u r am So i Ri r ve es R 46 43° r e i v

v i 25a Pine Ridge Escarpment 43° e

r R 44 SOUTH DAKOTA x 25b Rolling Sand Plains r Lewis and u e o 43g iv i R 43h 44d Clark Lake S e r it Rive 42g g 25c Moderate Relief Rangeland h rara 43i i 43h W iob Valentine 42g B Chadron N 42h 25d Flat to Rolling Cropland 43r 44a 44d 25e Rolling Cropland and Range 25a 25f Scotts Bluff and Wildcat Hills El kh 42p South or n Rive Sioux City 25g Sandy and Silty Tablelands rO'Neill 47d N 47k M 25h North and South Platte Valley o i NG 44d r s 25g 44d 44c t s C h o a F u and Terraces l lkh r OMI 25d 44b a E o o rk rn r i m o k u F R s So t h E i WY u Ri lk v Alliance ve h e r 47l o r r 42° 26 Southwestern Tablelands n 42° Norfolk Thedford 26a Cimarron Breaks No Scottsbluff rt h Lou p 26b Flat Tablelands and Valleys N R Calamus Dism i E or al Riv ve th er r Reservoir l 47 Pl 25f k 25f att h e R o 47d iver r 27 Central Great Plains n R M iver iddle 27a Smoky Hills Loup 44a R i 25h v N 47j e o 27b Rolling Plains and Breaks r r Fremont th 25f Columbus L 27c Great Bend Sand Prairie ou S p r o R ive ut i p R 27d Wellington-McPherson Lowland Lake h L v ou ou 27e er L McConaughy p R Omaha iv Loup 27e Central Nebraska Loess Plains 25d er Sidney North Platte City 25c iver 27f Rainwater Basin Plains e R 41° 27g Pl tt 41° 25h a 27g Platte River Valley Grand Island 47h 25d 44a 28 Flint Hills Pla iver r tte R Nebraska City 28 Flint Hills e R rk B ue Lincoln iv iv st Fo ig B l L R er Kearney We it e 25b tle IOWA tt la B N i em g a P h MISSOURI h a 29 Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains t B u o Hastings l N R S u or iv e th er 29a Cross Timbers F R or i k 27f v B er ig N Beatrice e 39 Ozark Highlands publican m Re Rive a McCook r ha 25b 47i River Falls 39a Springfield Plateau 25c City 40° 25d emaha River N 40 Central Irregular Plains 40° NEBRASKA g i

B 40b Osage Cuestas KANSAS k

F

25d S 25d 40c Wooded Osage Plains 40d Cherokee Plains 25 ver mon Ri Atchison h Fork Solo 40 Nort 42 Northwestern Glaciated Plains r ve Ri mon Rive 42g Ponca Plains Re n O Solo r ork publica South Fork Leavenworth h F ut AD Goodland 27a 42h Southern River Breaks So M i r OR ssour ve L 25d i Ri 42p Holt Tablelands S Manhattan 27b o Kansas

CO l o City Sal m ine R o Ka iver n ns as er 39° 43 Northwestern Great Plains R Topeka Riv 39° ive 25c r Lawrence 43g Semiarid Pierre Shale Plains

25d Hays 43h White River Badlands Salina 43i Keya Paha Tablelands Sm oky Hill River gnes R des Cy iver 43r Niobrara River Breaks is a Ma r 44 Nebraska Sand Hills Cheyenne 40b Bottoms 25d Emporia 44a Sand Hills 40c 44b Alkaline Lakes Area Great McPherson Bend 28 44c Wet Meadow and Marsh Plain 44d Lakes Area L i t 38 t ° l 38° e er Hutchinson A v r i e r Garden City v k R i a 47 Western Corn Belt Plains 25c R 27c n s s a a Fort Scott s s n 47d Missouri Alluvial Plain R a N 25c k i r v t e 26 e El Dorado 25b A u o Dodge City r ln s 47h Nebraska/Kansas Loess Hills a V h W e o R Pratt rd i Wichita ig ve 47i Loess and Glacial Drift Hills r r i s

25d N R 47j Lower Platte Alluvial Plain r inn i e esc v iv a e h R r R i 47k Northeastern Nebraska Loess Hills n 27d ve o r r r r Me ve a di Medicine 40d i 47l Transitional Sandy Plain m ci R i ne L Lodge Independence rk C 25e odg N o 26b e R ort h F iv 26b 29a 25b er 25b 26b 26a 39a Level III ecoregion 26a g 37° n 25b Liberal 25b i Level IV ecoregion 37° 26b r 39

26b p

25c 25b S NEW MEXICO C imarron River C r OKLAHOMA 28 40 County boundary 21 im ive 26 27 29 arron R 27 State boundary 98 97 96 INTERIOR—G EOLOG ICAL S U RVEY, RES TON, VIRG INIA—2001 103° 102° 101° 100° 99° ° ° ° 95°

Fig. 10 Ecological regions of Kansas. Credit: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/ksne_eco.htm

4 Glossary Additional Resources Lindbo, D. et al. 2008. Soil! Get the Inside Scoop. Soil Science Society of Carbonate: An accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the soil. America, Madison, WI. Clay: A soil particle that is less than 0.002 mm in diameter. They Lindbo, D. L., D. A. Kozlowski, and C. Robinson (ed.) 2012. Know Soil, can be separated from most soils and used to determine soil textural Know Life. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI. class. A clay soil is a soil that has more than 40% clay, less than 45% sand and less than 40% silt. Web Resources Ecoregion: Represents areas with similar biotic and abiotic characteristics which determine the resource potential and likely SOIL SCIENCE LINKS: responses to natural and man-made disturbances. Characteristics Soil Science Society of America—http://www.soils.org/ such as, climate, topography, geology, soils and natural vegetation Soils4Teachers—http://www.soils4teachers.org/ define an ecoregion. They determine the type of land cover that can exist and influence the range of land use practices that are possible. Soils4Kids—http://www.soils4kids.org/ Horizon: see Soil horizons Smithsonian Soils Exhibit—http://forces.si.edu/soils/ Loess: Parent material transported to and deposited in its current location by wind. NRCS LINKS: Kansas NRCS—http://www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov/ Moisture deficit: The amount of water that is needed to bring soil to K-6 Activities—http://www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov/news/soil_does_more/in- field capacity or to the amount of water the soil can hold against gravity. dex.html Organic matter: Soil material derived from the decay of plants and Web Soil Survey—http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/ animals. Always contains compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Sand: A soil particle between 0.05 and 2.0 mm in diameter. Sand is KANSAS LINKS: also used to describe soil texture according to the soil textural triangle, Kansas State University Extension—http://www.ksre.k-state.edu/ for example, loamy sand. Kansas Department of Agriculture—http://agriculture.ks.gov/ Silt: A soil particle between 0.002 and 0.05 mm diameter. It is also Conservation Educational Resources—http://agriculture.ks.gov/divi- used to describe a soil textural class. sions-programs/division-of-conservation/conservation-education-resources Silty Clay Loam: a classification for soil material that contains 27- 40% clay, 0-15% sand, and 42 to 75% silt. Silt Loam: a classification for soil material that contains 0-27% clay, References 0-55% sand, and 55-90% silt. Kansas Native Plant Society. http://www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org/ Soil Forming Factors: The surrounding environment that leads to ecoregions.php differences in soil properties. The factors include Parent Material, National Cooperative Soil Survey, Official Series Description-Harney Climate, Relief (Topography), Biological Activity, Time, and in some Series https://soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HARNEY.html cases, Human Activity. Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. Harney – Kansas Soil Horizon: A layer of soil with properties that differ from the layers State Soil. ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NSSC/StateSoil_Profiles/ks_soil.pdf above or below it. Natural Resource Conservation Service, USDA. Kansas State Soil – Soil Management: The sum total of how we prepare and nurture soil, Harney Silt Loam. http://www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov/news/soil_does_more/ select types of crops that suitable for a type of soil, tend the crop harney.html and the soil together, determine types of fertilizers and other materials added to soil so as to maintain productivity and preserve the soil. Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. 1982. Soil Survey of Rooks County. Soil Profile: The sequence of natural layers, or horizons, in a soil. It extends from the surface downward to unconsolidated material. Most soils have three major horizons, called the surface horizon, the Author: Meghan Sindelar subsoil, and the substratum. Acknowledgements Soil Scientist: A soil scientist studies the upper few meters of Kansas NRCS: Chad Remley, State Soil Scientist the Earth’s crust in terms of its physical and chemical properties; Kansas State University: Mickey Ransom and DeAnn Presley distribution, genesis and morphology; and biological components. Soil Texture: The relative proportion of sand, slit, and clay particles that make up a soil. Sand particles are the largest and clay particles the smallest. Learn more about soil texture at www.soils4teachers. org/physical-properties Subsoil: (B horizon) The soil horizon rich in minerals that eluviated, or leached down, from the horizons above it. Not present in all soils. Topsoil: (A horizon) – Mostly weathered minerals from parent material with a little organic matter added. The horizon that formed at the land surface.

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This state soil booklet was developed under the auspices of the Soil Science Society of America’s K-12 Committee —their dedication to developing outreach materials for the K-12 audience makes this material possible. 5