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Diggin’ in the Driftless

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Students take soil samples and record data in one of the four pits of different soil types on the Mark and Kati Forsythe property on Forst Road north of Prairie du Chien Thursday morning. (Photos by Ted Pennekamp)

Michelle Cliff, a UW-Platteville student from Patch Grove and a former River Ridge student, evaluates and records information about her samples from one of the pits. Cliff finished second in the individual contest.

 

Region 3 Collegiate Soils 

Contest held near Prairie du Chien

By Ted Pennekamp

 

Forty-eight college soils team members converged upon the Mark and Kati Forsythe property north of Prairie du Chien Thursday and Friday, Oct. 11 and 12, for individual and team soils competitions. The Region 3 Collegiate Soils Contest involved students from UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, Purdue University and the University of Illinois.

The event was overseen by UW-Platteville Soils and Crop Science professor Chris Baxter, formerly of Prairie du Chien. Several volunteers also helped out as pit monitors and graders.

Thursday was the individual competition, and students rotated to four pits dug at various locations on the property to take soil samples, evaluate those samples and record data. Friday was the team competition with teams from the four universities competing against each other. Each competition took about four hours, said Baxter.

There are several different textures and descriptions of soil, explained Baxter. Different types of soil are good for different uses, such as growing certain crops or building a house, for example. The size of the sediment components of a soil influence its agricultural potential, hydrology, and engineering characteristics.

Different types of soil can include clay, sandy clay, silty clay, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, loam, silty loam, sandy loam, silt, loamy sand, and sand, to name a few.

The pH (acidity or alkalinity) is another component of soil. Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils because it affects many chemical processes. It specifically affects plant nutrient availability by controlling the chemical forms of the different nutrients and influencing the chemical reactions they undergo. The optimum pH range for most plants is between 5.5 and 7.5. However, many plants have adapted to thrive at pH values outside this range.

The host school, UW-Platteville, took second overall. Team members were Michelle Cliff, Sarah Breuer, Ian Allaman and Wrangler Jones. Cliff was second by a mere three points in the individual competition.

UW-Stevens Point won the overall contest. Purdue was third and Illinois was fourth.

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