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    Houston Black Handout

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    worjord
    The Houston Black soil is a unique and fertile soil found in central Texas. It occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Blackland Prairie region, extending from north of Dallas to south of San Antonio. This soil is very productive for agriculture, generating $300-500 million annually from crops like grain sorghum, cotton, and corn. It is recognized as a classic Vertisol soil due to its high clay content, which causes expansion when moist and cracking when dry.

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    Houston Black Handout

    Uploaded by

    worjord
    26 views2 pages
    The Houston Black soil is a unique and fertile soil found in central Texas. It occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Blackland Prairie region, extending from north of Dallas to south of San Antonio. This soil is very productive for agriculture, generating $300-500 million annually from crops like grain sorghum, cotton, and corn. It is recognized as a classic Vertisol soil due to its high clay content, which causes expansion when moist and cracking when dry.

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    Soil map for Houston black soil region

    Original Title

    Houston-Black-Handout

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    The Houston Black soil is a unique and fertile soil found in central Texas. It occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Blackland Prairie region, extending from north of Dallas to south of San Antonio. This soil is very productive for agriculture, generating $300-500 million annually from crops like grain sorghum, cotton, and corn. It is recognized as a classic Vertisol soil due to its high clay content, which causes expansion when moist and cracking when dry.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    26 views2 pages

    Houston Black Handout

    Uploaded by

    worjord
    The Houston Black soil is a unique and fertile soil found in central Texas. It occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Blackland Prairie region, extending from north of Dallas to south of San Antonio. This soil is very productive for agriculture, generating $300-500 million annually from crops like grain sorghum, cotton, and corn. It is recognized as a classic Vertisol soil due to its high clay content, which causes expansion when moist and cracking when dry.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Houston Black Soil

    Fact Sheet - November 2010


    Introduction
    The soil is one of the foundations of Texas history,
    culture, growth, and inherent richness. Soil produces
    the food we eat and the fiber we wear. It filters and
    recycles the water we drink, and grows the lush
    forests that supply the lumber to build our homes.
    Soil provides the forage for livestock production, it
    sustains the habitat for wildlife, and supports the
    homes we live in. Texas is home to about 16 million
    acres of a unique class of soils (Vertisols) that are
    known worldwide. These very
    fertile soils are found from the High
    Plains to the Coastal Bend. Texas
    has 80 percent of this unique class
    of soils in the U.S. The soil known as
    Houston Black, which bears the
    name of Sam Houston, is an
    outstanding example of these types
    of soils. Sam Houston

    Houston Black
    The Houston Black soil, recognized by its dark, rich
    color, occurs on about 1.5 million acres in the Black-
    land Prairie, which extends from north of Dallas to
    south of San Antonio. The Houston Black soil series
    was established in 1902 and is used extensively for
    the production of grain sorghum, cotton, corn, small
    grains, and forage grasses. It is one of the highest
    agricultural producing soils, generating between $300
    to $500 million in annual revenue for farmers and
    ranchers in Texas. Millions of people live, work, and
    travel on areas of this soil, which occurs in three of the
    four largest metropolitan areas of the state.

    Profile of Houston Black Clay in eastern Bell County, Texas

    This soil is recognized by the National Cooperative


    Soil Survey both as a Hall of Fame Series and a Bench-
    mark Soil Series. Hall of Fame Series are those that
    have a history of long use in the National Cooperative
    Soil Survey and represent a broad range of the types
    of soils in the United States. Benchmark Soil Series are
    those series of large extent, and that have special
    significance to farming, engineering, urban develop-
    ment and other uses.
    page 2 | Houston Black Soil

    Cotton growing on Houston Black soils in Texas Houston Black soil develops a unique surface feature, which consists of
    microhighs surrounding circular microlows, which are filled with water.

    Corn growing on the Houston Black soil in central Texas The cracks in the soil can extend to depths greater than 80 inches when
    the soil is dry.

    The Houston Black soil is recognized throughout the


    world because of its uniqueness as a classic Vertisol
    and is one of the most studied soils in Texas because
    of its extent and distinctiveness. Vertisols are soils that
    have a high content of expansive clays that shrink as
    they dry and swell as they become moist. Water enters
    the soils rapidly when they are dry and cracked, and
    very slowly when they are saturated with moisture.
    The soil develops a unique surface feature called
    gilgai, which consists of microhighs surrounding
    circular microlows.

    Surface cracking during dry periods is one identifying feature of vertisols


    For More Information like the Houston Black soil.
    For more information regarding the Texas Soil Survey
    program, visit us online at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov. For
    more information regarding soil data, visit:
    http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov or
    http://soils.usda.gov.
    Helping People Help the Land
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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