Good Fruit Grower

April 15

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38 APRIL 15, 2016 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com G rowers who want to expand and need more information about the soil underfoot have some key resources available with soil mapping tools for anyone with a smartphone, tab- let, desktop or laptop. Some of the mapping tools are free. The tools provide accurate informa- tion about what a land parcel can and cannot deliver, with data derived from two of the federal government's more comprehensive, publicly funded soil sur- vey projects. The fi rst task in assessing a parcel's potential usually begins with soil tests, which can take a considerable amount of time. Researchers at University of California, Davis aimed to ease that load with SoilWeb, an application capable of map- ping the soil to depict soil type and pro- vide profi le information, soil taxonomy, erosion ratings and soil fertility. Dr. Toby O'Geen, a UC-Davis Cooperative Extension soil resource specialist, and Dr. Dylan Beaudette, now of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Resource Service, developed it at the UC-Davis California Soil Resource Lab three years ago from data mined from USDA's National Cooperative Soil Survey. "Traffi c to the site totals 500 to 1,000 visits a day," O'Geen said. Although the information provided by SoilWeb isn't a substitute for a soil test, the program can deliver preliminary data in the form of geographic, system-posi- tioned soil profi les in an instant. Originally, it was a standalone mobile app. "Mobile operating systems were changing so quickly we had trouble Soil-mapping web tools available to growers. by Dave Weinstock Soils and Weed Management High-tech MAPPING NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC AGENCY The green regions on this map represent the areas for which LiDAR data is available for use with Agren's SoilCalculator to create on-farm soil erosion management plans. ©2016 Meadow Creature, LLC MeadowCreature.Com ® Or Give Us a Call 360-329-2250 MAKE CIDER WITH EASE - - MEADOW CREATURE ® Commercial quality at a family price–the AVALON ®

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