Soils of North Dakota Dave Franzen Professor North

Soils of North Dakota Dave Franzen Professor, North Dakota State University, Fargo. Extension Soil Specialist

Green soils are Mollisols

Lakebed Till Residuum

YOUNG Till Residuum OLD Lakebed

All of our soils “East River” are derived from great continental glaciers.

Cool/dryer Hot/dry Cool/moist Warm/moist

Influence of landscape

Slide from Hopkins, 2011 The organic carbon (OC) is: 3. 07, 2. 16, and 1. 67 % to 26 in. That lowest horizon is > 3% SOM Bulk density values: Ap 0 -6 in. 1. 17 g/cm 3 AB 6 -13 1. 31 B 13 -26 1. 41 CEC; 45. 3 cmol (+)/kg older term (meq/100 g) Ca+2= 21. 8 cmol (+)/kg Mg+2=15. 1 cmol (+)/kg

Red River Valley scene with Fargo soils in a corn field, early June, 2010.

Bare soil temperature at 4 inches from November 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, Fargo, ND.

Image from D. Hopkins

Till Plain scene with spring wheat near Valley City, 2010

A B Mean wetting depth C Typical Barnes soil profile

Wheat field harvest, August, 2010, NW North Dakota, Bismarck Tribune photo

Williams Soils. Side slope position on many western North Dakota soils 2. 2 million acres of ND is Williams loams

Salts or sodium affect many millions of acres of North Dakota farm and pasture land

Swale groundwater elevations in mid-June; 1991 -2000 Drought to pluvial in southeastern North Dakota (Hopkins) 6/22/00 6/22/99 6/18/96 6/15/93 6/14/94 6/23/92

Photo courtesy of Dr. David Hopkins, NDSU

Devils Lake 1984 USGS image Devils Lake 2010 USGS image

Farmland near Forman, ND flooding due to water table rising, 2011. Photo courtesy of Kelly Cooper, Forman SCD

Crops in North Dakota have done better than their summer counterparts mostly because of the lack of 100 degree temps, but also due to the legacy of high water tables from previous years and the capillary water pull of most of our soils to supply crops during an extended dry period.