Annual/Termination Reports:

[11/11/1111] [08/12/2005] [09/11/2006] [07/31/2007] [08/12/2008] [03/12/2010]

Report Information

Participants

Administrative Advisor:
Gerald Miller, Iowa State University, 132 Curtiss Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1050

Chair: Richard D. Hammer, University of Missouri, Dept. of Civil/Env. Engineering, Columbia, MO 65211

Secretary: Cynthia Stiles, University of Wisconsin, Dept. of Soil Science, Madison, WI 53706

Members in attendance:

Terry Cooper - Minnesota (substitute for Jay Bell), Tim Gerber - Ohio (substitute for Neil Smeck), Dave Hammer - Missouri, Russ Kelsea - NRCS Lincoln, Ken Olson - Illinois, Mickey Ransom - Kansas, Gary Steinhardt - Purdue, Cynthia Stiles - Wisconsin.

Members absent:

Tom Fenton - Iowa, Dave Hopkins - North Dakota, Doug Malo - South Dakota, Del Mokma - Michigan, Neil Smeck - Ohio, Bill Zanner - Nebraska, James Bockheim - Wisconsin, Laurie Osher - Maine, and Jay Noller - Oregon State, Ray Knighton - CSREES.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Meeting called to order Monday, July 12 at 6:25 PM at the Indiana State NRCS office, Indianapolis, IN. The meeting continued until approximately 8:30 PM, recessed, and was reconvened Tuesday, July 13 at 9:00 AM during the Regional Soil Survey Work Planning Conference.

2003 minutes were approved by voice vote upon a motion made by M. Ransom, seconded by T. Cooper.

Report from Administrative Advisor Gerald Miller:

1) Current 5-year project terminates Sept.30, 2004. Dave Hammer and writing team got the renewal in on time (NCRA committee in Madison, presently designated as NC_temp1089). The proposal was approved for renewal for five years, October 2004 - September 2009. The committee will retain its current designation, NCR-3. Specific criticisms of the project: 1) Objectives are excessively broad and do not seem to address emerging issues and 2) there is a need to reach wider audience.

2) Specific comments shared by the Administrative Advisor addressed separation of objectives and operating model of NCs and NCRs, reducing administrative burdens to NCR and delegation of more flexibility to committees.
a. Despite this anticipated separation, there is still a need for clear accountability for the project - a need for immediate accomplishment. Review will be in third year (FY 2007) for midterm, so the committee needs to conceptualize and activate a productive output to demonstrate in this review.
b. Appendix E's have been filed for the representative for each University, Two new states have been added, Kentucky (Tassos Karathanasis) and Oregon State (Jay Noller). Terry Cooper replaces Jay Bell for Minnesota, Andrew Manu will replace Tom Fenton (retired) for Iowa. Laurie Osher, Maine, has not filed an Appendix E for the new NCR-3.
c. The NIMSS webpage is accessible through specific directions given in Appendix 3. Budget information for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 was distributed and showed that distributed funds have been cut by roughly 10% overall in 2004 but are projected to be level into 2005.
d. Directors originally asked for multi-state committees to have a chair, chair-elect, and a secretary, and for each officer to serve for a two-year term, but this is under discussion.

David Hammer thanked Jerry for his extraordinary service and support through the renewal efforts, and observed that Jerry had kept in touch with the committee throughout the year and had attended and participated in all meetings.

Report from NRCS Representative Russ Kelsea:

1) NRCS re-organization: there are to be three new national technology support centers (NTSC) with core soil scientist to focus on interpretation and proper use of soil information (Greensboro, NC, Ft. Worth, TX, and Portland, OR) in place and operational by Sept 2004. Soil Survey's charge is to develop and promulgate soil resource information and this re-organization will address the contemporary needs of the survey users. Office of Management and Budget has found that this is a weak link for the agency, but still has problems deciding under whose jurisdiction this falls. National Headquarter changes: Ken Lubich will be the Program Manager (Replacing Maxine Levin), Carolyn Olson will transfer to Washington as the new Science Advisor, and eventually new national leader will be named for to replace Dr. Olson in Lincoln. This position will combine the investigations and research with the director of the National Soil Survey laboratory.

2) National Cartographic and Geospatial Center (NCGC) to open in Morgantown, WV, as a mandated center through CESU, emphasis on new technology development - first project will be to get the existing centers to work together (Information Systems Plan). NCGC won aggressive bid but will have to reduce personnel to follow up on digital survey production job. The agency is now deciding on best method of delivering the product and amending bills to move from requirement of electronic promulgation only to optional print format. Shifting to an electronic format has been challenging because the existing federal guidelines require that soil surveys be in 'book' format. A more generic set of working guidelines is being proposed.

3) There has been a reduction of roughly half the number of soil scientists from 1970 to present. Many more soon will retire and opportunities to hire many new, young soil scientists will be available in the upcoming years. Committee members raised questions on whether or not the agency will try to make information available to potential employees and simplify the application process. A perceived problem in recruiting new hires is that the agency uses human resources personnel to recruit rather than allowing field soil scientists to recruit and explain the nuances of a career in soil survey. Russ Kelsea noted that future soil scientists will have different career tracks, and a new spectrum of skills and opportunities exists. Additional commentary followed on reaching high school students and continuing soil-judging programs at the undergrad level.

4) NASIS/TERRA (Forest Service) issues are being addresses at the NCSS. Forest Service views Resource Inventory as an empirical survey whereas NCSS tends to be a stochastic inventory (i.e., landscape mapping). Issues will be addressed at NCSS.

Old Business:

Eroding Mollisols (reported by Ken Olson) focuses on taxonomic problems associated with erosional phases - eroded Mollisols = prime timber soils and loss of genetic 'thread'. Proposal written by K. Olson was sent for review to M. Ransom, D. Hammer, N. Smeck, and T. Fenton and criteria were refined for the mollic epipedon thickness requirements, OC content, color, to exclude timber soils. Russ Kelsea suggested that we need to define the characteristics of these soils to help the survey folks make best interpretations. M. Ransom advanced the idea that the entire landscape needs to be evaluated rather than specific sites and perhaps the taxonomic problem should be less important than interpretation and land use capability. Dave Hammer suggested that subcommittees should look at specific problems and produce white paper reports of their findings. He further suggested that this is the kind of activity and reporting that administrators are expecting of multi-state committees.

New Business:

1) Ken Olson presented the updated list for officer sequence through the states and then brought a motion to have three officers as suggested by the multi-state research committee. T. Cooper second - passed as stated. The suggestion that officers serve two-year terms was rejected. Officers will serve one year term only as traditionally done in the past. New officers for next year Chair - Cynthia Stiles, Chair-Elect - Terry Cooper, Secretary - Mickey Ransom.

2) Meeting for 2005 will be 20-21 June in Madison, WI, with arrangements being made by C. Stiles.

3) Mickey Ransom made a motion to organize subcommittees into 'action' and 'service' categories, seconded by G. Steinhardt, motion passed by voice vote.

Subcommittees current at meeting time were:
Soil taxonomy;
Hydric soils;
Nominating committee;
Soil survey advisory;
Precision farming;
Database;
Spatial and temporal distribution of soil organic carbon committee, which replaced the Eroded soils committee in 2003.

The following new subcommittees and members were confirmed:

New service subcommittees:

Soil Taxonomy, (C. Stiles carryover, G. Steinhardt new) ;
National Conference on Soil Survey, (G. Steinhardt carryover, D. Hopkins new) ;
National Soil Survey Advisory (inactive; K. Olson volunteered as contact) ;
National Soil Survey Database (T. Fenton has been handling this and it is generally inactive but not officially so; M. Ransom volunteered to work on this);

Inactive service committee: National Soil Survey Standards ;

Motion made by M. Ransom to accept these action committee as suggested, R Kelsea second, motion passed by voice vote.

New action committees

Soil Organic/Inorganic (Eroded Mollisols): Olson (chair), Hammer, Ransom, Zanner;
Education and Training: Ransom (chair), Cooper, Hammer, Steinhardt, Stiles;
High intensity Survey: Steinhardt (chair pro-temp)
Focus to be on scale, quality assurance, procedures and standards ;
Interpretations: Hammer (chair)
Focus to be on user population, their needs, and moving to web-based information and data

Motion made by K. Olson to accept these service committees and chairs as suggested, seconded by C. Stiles, D. Hammer will e-mail absent members to participate in these committees, G. Miller suggested that we act quickly to define objectives and consider ideas for action. M. Ransom volunteered to update list-serve for
committee members. Motion passed on voice vote.

4) Mickey Ransom made a brief progress report on NC-94 (renewed as NC 1018): 'Impact of climate and soils on crop management'. He and Brian Slater (Ohio) are responsible for contributing appropriate soil information for this project.

5) Mickey Ransom suggested that committee chairs update membership using a listserve, and Mickey volunteered to establish the listserver.

6) Ken Olson suggested that we be open to interaction with national committees and participate in the national Soil Survey Work Planning Conference, and that we send at least one member to this meeting each year that it is held. The ensuing discussion produced the following suggestions for topics:

Working with NRCS for national education and recruitment goals.

Intepretation revisions from eroded soils.

Precision agriculture and first order soil surveys

Quality assurance

Standards

7) Possible NCR-3 objectives were discussed and included:

Create 'critical mass' for policy decisions.

Identify soil and landform research needs.

Develop and coordinate interpretations.

Bring interpretations to national recognition

Business meeting adjourned at 11:15AM after the exchange of state reports and reaffirmation of next year's officers.

Approved:



______________________________
Cynthia A. Stiles Date

NCR-3 Secretary 2004


______________________________
Gerald Miller Date

NCR-3 Adminstrative Advisor 2004

Accomplishments

Publications

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Members in attendance:;

Terry Cooper - Minnesota;
Dave Hopkins - North Dakota State;
Russ Kelsea - NRCS Lincoln;
Randy Miles - Missouri;
Del Mokma - Michigan State;
Ken Olson - Illinois;
Phillip Owens - Purdue;
Mickey Ransom - Kansas;
Neil Smeck - Ohio State;
Gary Steinhardt - Purdue;
Cynthia Stiles - Wisconsin;
Bill Zanner - Nebraska;
Guest: Carl Wacker - NRCS, Wisconsin.;

Members absent: ;

Doug Malo - South Dakota State; Andrew Manu - Iowa State; Tassos Karathanasis - Kentucky; and Jay Noller - Oregon State;

Administrative Advisor: ; Gerald Miller - Iowa State, present

Brief Summary of Minutes

Meeting called to order Monday June 20 at 1:00 pm at Friederick Center on the campus of UW Madison by Chair Cynthia Stiles.

Approval of Minutes: Clarification made on previous New Business item: Chair, chair-elect and secretary governance will replace previous two-year chair and secretary terms. Motion to approve minutes made by Ken Olson, seconded by Bill Zanner, was carried by voice vote.

Gerald Miller - Introductory Remarks

1. NCERA-3 was renewed for 5 yr in Oct 2004, an appendix E was filed.

2. NCERA-3 will need to be renamed

3. The Federal OMB requires accountability for funded grants, thus requiring NCERA-3 to generate a midterm impact statement of 1.5-2 pages to be submitted during the 3rd year of the project.

4. Update on federal budget: Re-appropriations of Federal funds for agricultural research have been made by the present administration. Discussion took place on the topic of the increasing influence of college and university administrators over grantsmanship.

Russ Kelsea (NRCS National Office, Lincoln) - NRCS Agency Report

1. The agency has been reviewed through the government performance and results act - PART (Performance and Analysis and Ratings Tool). According to this act, four main sections are defined for Soil Survey activities: Make inventory of soil resources of U.S.; Keep inventory current to meet needs; Interpret information and make reports in useful form (farm, industrial, urban); Promote use of soil survey information and provide technical assistance in its use

2. The purpose is crystal clear for soil survey and all aspects of the soil survey program now presently in the strategic planning process.

3. The strategic plan for soil survey has been focused on mapping last few decades, leading to an outcome of completed map for the whole country (presently 95-98% complete). Now it is seen that a "more balanced" Soil Survey program should be developing in the future to keep the inventory current.

4. Paper copies of county soil surveys are no longer being produced, replaced by electronic publication.

5. Interpretations: Public interest and pressures for better land use decision-making tool requires that soil interpretations incorporate important environmental interactions (e.g., basements and water table, slope relationships with drainage) into survey information. Recent NRCS publications are emphasizing this new, necessary change, i.e., "Soils and Environmental Hazards" and "The Urban Soil Primer". This also heightens the role played by resource soil scientists in interpretation and delivery.

6. Dave Hammer now heads Investigations and National Soil Survey Laboratory at NRCS.

7. Review of significant personnel and responsibilities for NRCS.

Old Business -

1. Sub-committee on eroded Mollisols

a. history of the eroded Mollisols issue was discussed:

1) Two white papers have been published in Soil Survey Horizons on eroded Mollisol classification criteria by this working group.

2) A proposal was put forth by this sub-committee to the 2004 North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference for the classification of eroded Mollisols.

b. Extensive discussion then followed about the following points

1) Although a problem exists, no clear solutions are evident

2) The proposal needs additional testing

3) The present way of dealing with eroded Mollisols tends to ignore genesis and a genetic thread is not maintained in the classification of these soils

4) Eroded soils are recognized in older soil surveys

5) A solution to the problem needs to be found

6) Could refer the problem to an international committee that is currently studying disturbed soils, although this might kill the proposal

7) The classification of soils disturbed by humans is a problem that will continue in the future and the amount of human degradation on these soils will continue to be an issue in future decisions on soil classification.

c. At this point a consensus was reached to continue discussion on this issue at another time.

NRC-3 Service and Action Committees: There are presently three national committees associated with the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference - Research Agenda; Technology; and NCSS Standards. It was also noted that Dave Hopkins will be on the steering committee for the next NCSS meeting. A motion was made by Randy Miles and seconded by Neil Smeck to structure the NCERA-3 action committees to follow the organization of the committees of the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference. The motion was approved. The NCERA-3 Action committees will then be organized as follows:

a. Effects of Management on Soils (name changed from Soil Organic/Inorganic Carbon and Eroded Mollisols by motion)
b. Education and Training
c. High Intensity Survey
d. Soil Research and Interpretations (name changed from Interpretations by motion).

2. National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference - (Texas 2005) six were present from this committee - Gary Steinhardt was on the planning conference.

3. Restatement of NCERA-3 Objectives to help define future activities and impacts:

a. Create the critical mass necessary for scientists at the various AES to have an impact of quality control and formulation of policy and direction for the NCSS program on both regional and national basis.

b. Identify specific soil and land-use research needs that will benefit from a regional or sub-regional approach that can either build upon existing initiatives in individual states or address a timely emerging need.

c. Coordinate official NCERA representation on national NCSS and Soil Taxonomy committees and relay/evaluate national recommendations and initiatives to pertinent groups throughout the region.

d. Developing and coordinating extension and educational activities related to NCSS.

e. Bringing soil science generally and SSI specifically to the same level of recognition as other important sciences and developing alliances with scientists in ancillary disciplines.

4. Other old business:

a. Selection of Secretary for 2006 - Del Mokma was nominated and elected. The Secretary becomes Chair-Elect and then Chair in the three-year rotation system
b. Dave Hopkins will serve on the Soil Taxonomy National Committee.

(Committee meeting activity was suspended at 4:30 PM Monday and resumed activity at 8:00 AM, Tuesday)

New Business -

1. Re-evaluation of NCERA-3 objectives and ways to address them to show recorded outcomes for the funding agency

a. Create the critical mass necessary for scientists at the various AES to have an impact of quality control and formulation of policy and direction for the NCSS program on both regional and national basis.

b. Identify specific soil and land-use research needs that will benefit from a regional or sub-regional approach that can either build upon existing initiatives in individual states or address a timely emerging need. Dave Hammer plans to develop collaborative networks to facilitate interpretations on landscape scales and is considering the judicious use of soil survey staff and the Lincoln laboratory for specific investigations. Two projects are already being developed in the NCERA:

c. Personnel retirements in the next few years will create openings for Soil Scientists in NRCS. Graduates with MS degrees - and experience - will be preferred.

d. Specific research needs for NRCS:

1). Eroded soil data evaluation to determine estimated erosion and effects on land use interpretations
2). Collection, presentation, and evaluation of point and landscape water table data.

2. Coordinate official NCERA representation on national NCSS and Soil Taxonomy committees and relay/evaluate national recommendations and initiatives to pertinent groups throughout the region. Comment: This is being done with regional members serving on national committees - national structure picks from each region.

3. Committee Reports

a. National Service Committees

1). Soil Taxonomy Committee membership from NCERA-3: Cynthia Stiles 2003-05; Gary Steinhardt 2004-07; Dave Hopkins 2005-08.

2). National Conference on Soil Survey membership: Cynthia Stiles + Gary Steinhardt (2003); Gary Steinhardt + Dave Hopkins (2005); Dave Hopkins + Mickey Ransom (2007); Mickey Ransom + Neil Smeck (2009).

3). National Soil Survey Database: Mickey Ransom reported no activity. The National Geospatial Development Center in Morgantown will be taking on the coordination and development of future databases.

b. Effect of Management on Soils (Eroded Mollisols)

1). Members: Ken Olson (chair), Mickey Ransom, Doug Malo, Neil Smeck, and Randy Miles and Bill Zanner (adjunct)

2). Information presented in old business.

c. Education and Training

1). Members: Mickey Ransom (chair), Terry Cooper, Dave Hopkins, Doug Malo, Del Mokma, and Gary Steinhardt (adjunct)

2). Committee will develop a survey on teaching efforts to determine core courses available at each institution to successfully qualify graduates as soil scientists (minimum of 15 semester credits are required for certification).

3). Evaluate internet and short courses as a way to provide continuing education for practitioners who need additional qualifying courses to work in the natural resource field.

4). Determine if regional expertise may become more valuable as land grant universities may lose their AES pedologists.

5). Initiate effort to bring soil science and soil survey to a level of recognition similar to ancillary disciplines and develop cooperative efforts with scientists in other fields who use soil information for their work. These efforts include support for the Smithsonian exhibit, providing information for earth science teachers, and continued support for FFA teams.

6). Each representative should show educational efforts in their annual state report, beyond recording traditional classes.

d. High Intensity Soil Survey

1). Members: Gary Steinhardt (chair), Phillip Owens (chair pro-temp), Russ Kelsea, David Hopkins, and Cynthia Stiles

2). Most work presently being done at Purdue University, where order one surveys have been done over a large area using electronic format map. Deemed to be very time-intensive but use of remote sensing data shortens production time. Travis Neely and NRCS staff (Indiana) spent one day with junior soil scientists on this project to familiarize them with the process.

e. Soil Research & Interpretations

1). Members: Cynthia Stiles (chair), Randy Miles, Neil Smeck, and Mickey Ransom

2). Committee will generate a survey of soils-related programs at all universities (land grant and other) to determine what directions research is taking.

f. Notes on committee assignments and duties for NCERA-3

1). All NCERA-3 members must serve on the action committees.

2). To be a member of NCERA-3, participants may file the paper work (Appendix E) through their CRIS administrator.

4. Future critical activities will be evaluated annually by the reports generated by each of the action and service committees. Work on this should continue through the year and provide outcomes for OMB.

5. Other New Business

a. Motion made and approved that for those participant states not submitting a state report or attending in three consecutive years, the chair will contact the faculty member to file an Appendix E to withdraw from the NCR-3 committee. If this action is not made in a reasonable time period, the Administrative Advisor will contact the appropriate LGU director requesting the host LGU take further action.

b. Nomenclature of the committee: Motion made and approved to change the name of the NCR-3 Committee to NCERA-3.

c. A request will be sent via e-mail by the Secretary to representatives not in attendance (from Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon and South Dakota) to specify Service/Action committee preferences.

d. New officers take office on October 1, 2005: 2006 officers: Terry Cooper- Chair, Mickey Ransom-Chair Elect, and Del Mokma - Secretary.

Meeting of NCERA-3 adjourned: 11:30 am on June 21, 2005

Approved:

Signed: Michel Ransom 8/12/2004

NCR-3 Secretary 2005

Signed: Gerald Miller 8/12/2004

NCR-3 Administrative Advisor 2005

Accomplishments

NCERA-3 State Reports 2005 <br /> <br /> Illinois - Kenneth R. Olson - University of Illinois <p> <br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p>Illinois has published the soil survey reports for all 102 counties. Thirty counties have a digital soil survey in progress. A proposal to modify the mollic epipedon thickness criteria for eroded conditions has been forwarded to the appropriate regional and national Soil Taxonomic Committees. <p><br /> Research Activities: Classification of eroded Mollisols; Soil productivity-erosion relationships; Effect of soil tillage on SOC sequestration; Quantification of erosion and sedimentation; Crop yields by soil series; Evaluation of conservation tillage systems for restoration of productivity of previously eroded soils<p><br /> Publications: 1 book chapter; 2 peer-reviewed journal articles; 2 Soil Survey Horizons articles<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Soil and Water <p><br /> <br /> Indiana - Phillip Owens, Gary Steinhardt and Brad Lee - Purdue University<br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> All 92 Indiana counties have been initially surveyed and have published survey reports. Thirteen counties have been updated at a scale of 1:12,000 and five additional county updates are in progress. Four of the update surveys have been published with hard copies and soil survey CD's. Publication on the remainder of the update surveys is pending and all of these surveys have been digitized. 58 counties now have been digitized, including the update surveys with 25 more counties in progress. All surveys with digitizing completed have been released on CD as Soil Survey Interim Reports. The 58 counties that are digitized have spatial and tabular data available online at the Soil Data Mart and the remainder of the 92 counties all have tabular data available online. 22 surveys have Soil Survey publications online at the NRCS Indiana State Web Site.<br /> <br /> Research Activities: Determining the relationship of seasonal water tables and water movement in soils within benchmark catenas to soil hydrology, pedological features and hydric soils indicators; Quantification of the spatial variability of soil properties and trace elements within benchmark catenas using maps created by soil evaluations, digital elevation models, remote sensing and geostatistics; Characterization and classification of reclaimed mine-soils and the relationship to soil survey interpretations for cropland yield estimations; Relationship of order 1 and order 2 soil surveys to measured georeferenced yield monitors to compare with the predicted soil survey yield interpretations; Characterization of the hydraulic conductivity variations between the concentric series of recessional moraines formed from the Erie-Ontario glacial lobe in northeastern Indiana; Identification of the clay mineral properties of the illitic soils of MLRA 111; Explore the effect of hillslope position on the in situ saturated hydraulic conductivity patterns on a northeastern Indiana moraine; Characterization of the spatial distribution of water limiting horizons across a watershed with geophysical methods; Evaluation of the utility of geophysical methods to determine the location of septic systems. <p><br /> <br /> Publications: Research - 4, Abstracts - 4, Extension publications - 15 <br /> <br /> Classes: Introduction to Soil Morphology, Soil Morphology Geography, Soil Conservation & Management, Remote Sensing of Land Resources, Soil Classification & Survey, Forest Soils, Soils and Land Use, Soils Genesis and Classification, Soils and Septic Systems. <p><br /> <br /> Iowa- No Report<p><br /> <br /> Kansas - Michel D. Ransom - Kansas State University<p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Updates of soil surveys will be done on a multi-county (MLRA) basis. Updates are in progress in MLRA 72, 73, 74, 77, 79, and 106. All updates will be on a 1:12,000 ortho-quad base. Most surveys in Kansas have been published at a scale of 1:20,000 and are not geo-referenced. The soil surveys for all counties in Kansas are digitized up to NRCS standards for SSURGO certification. This work was completed by the Agronomy Department, the Geography Department, and NRCS as part of an effort to develop a statewide GIS. The work was completed in the Geographic Information Systems/Spatial Analysis Laboratory of the Geography Department. A Soil Characterization Laboratory analyzed about 500 grab samples in FY05 for the soil survey program. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Clay translocation and carbonate accumulation in central and western Kansas using soil micromorphology; Distribution and properties of clay minerals in Kansas soils with emphasis on fertility; Soil genesis and parent material stratigraphy in the Bluestem Hills; Development of the Kansas Irrigated Productivity Index for Kansas soils; Carbon sequestration using benchmark sites to estimate soil organic C stocks; Cooperative work with NC-1018, Impact of Climate and Soils on Crop Selection and Management<p><br /> <br /> Publications: 2 peer-reviewed journal articles; 1 symposium<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Soil Judging, Soil Problems, Soil Genesis and Classification, Advanced Soil Genesis and Classification<p><br /> Kentucky- No Report<p><br /> <br /> Michigan - Delbert L. Mokma - Michigan State University<p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Michigan is expected to complete the "once over" soil survey in 2005. Soil surveys of 45 of the 83 Michigan counties have been digitized and SURRGO certified. This work is being done by NRCS. Four MLRA Project offices have been set up with Project Leaders assigned to each MLRA. Some additional staffing has begun. As order 2 soil survey activities are completed, soil scientists will be added to the MLRA staffs. <p> <br /> <br /> Research Activities: No on going research related to the Michigan soil survey program<p><br /> <br /> Publications: 3 peer-reviewed journal articles<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Soil Resources<p><br /> <br /> Extension: Soils training for onsite wastewater treatment<p><br /> <br /> Minnesota - Terence H. Cooper - University of Minnesota<br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Minnesota Soil Survey Program: 64 published surveys of 87 counties. Update mapping = 16, 2 completed. Initial mapping = 6, 3 completed and non-project 2. 49 counties have SSURGO standards. NRCS has five MLRA coordinators and 12 state staff in support of 24 field soil scientists. MAES has 12 different projects in place to aid various segments of the soil survey program. Many of the projects deal with wet soils or spatial variability. Continued use of soil morphology information by wetland delineators and ISTS personnel has required new workshops. A new forest soil scientist will be starting in September (Dr. Bill Zanner). <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Anoka Sand Plain Practitioner Training; EAW web page development for EQB; GIS/RS Innovative Soil Mapping Update Project; Historical analysis of soils; Hydrology of Seasonal Ponds; Minnesota Wetlands Web Page; Minnesota EQB Environmental Review Web Page; Redoximorphic Features Conference; Seasonal Saturation in Minnesota Landscapes; Soil Survey Orthorectification and Digitization in Minnesota; Spatial variability of pesticide degradation; Wetland Delineation Training Workshops; Wet Soil Monitoring Project <p><br /> <br /> Publications: 4 peer-reviewed ; 1 symposium; 1 report<p> <br /> <br /> Courses taught: Basic Soil Science, The Soil Resource, Field Study of Soils, Soil Judging, Soil Geography: Soil Variability on Planet Earth, Jr./Sr. Seminar, Environmental Impact Statements, Wetland soils, Soil Genesis and Landscape Relations, Colloquium in Soil Science- Field Tour of Minn. <p><br /> <br /> Missouri - Randall J. Miles - University of Missouri<p><br /> Summary of Report: All counties are digitized with nearly all counties available online at the Center for Agriculture, Resources, and Environmental Sciences (CARES) website (http://soils.missouri.edu/). The fist phase of the "update" is nearly complete. Some of the major activities involved with Phase 1 and II are as follows: Pilot project of SoLIM has had a very positive result; Development of a statewide legend and map unit numbering system; Statewide legend is providing a great mechanism to update attribute data in NASIS; Phase II is providing the mechanism for prioritization of needs by benchmark series; Phase II has provided a RFT process for NRCS and MDNR soil scientists. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Use of soil morphological properties and geomorphology to assess planar barrowing at the Double Ditch Mandan Site in North Dakota; US of soil morphological properties to develop loading rates and design criteria for conventional and alternative onsite wastewater systems; Development of a Soil Potential Index for r conventional and alternative onsite wastewater systems; The role of Al activity and mineralogy on liming acid soils in southwest Missouri. <p><br /> <br /> Publications: 1 Peer-reviewed; 5 Published Abstracts; 2 Popular Articles; 14 Power Point Education/ Training Modules (Soils and Onsite Wastewater Systems); 1 Training Module (for 7 different courses).<br /> <br /> Courses Taught: Introduction to Soil Science, Introduction to Soil Science Laboratory, Soils and Geomorphology, Soil Judging, Special Problems<p><br /> <br /> Nebraska - Dr. C. William Zanner - University of Nebraska-Lincoln<p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Cameron Loerch is the new State Soil Scientist. Soil Survey update activities are under way in Sarpy, Douglas, McPherson, Scotts Bluff, and Nance Counties as part of updates to MLRAs 65, 67, 71, and 106. The Saunders, Dundy, and Hall county soil surveys are published, with the Washington County Soil Survey available on CD. The Kimball County Soil Survey is awaiting SSURGO certification. The following county surveys are now available on line: Boone, Cherry, Deuel, Sheridan, Gage County, Dodge, Lancaster, Nuckolls, Pierce, Richardson, Scottsbluff, Seward, Stanton, and Wayne. Nebraska has SSURGO certified digital soils data for all lands within the State. UNL has recently supplied NRCS with four new employees and an intern. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Soil properties and the climate gradient across the Great Plains; Sand Hills Biocomplexity project: sandy soils and landscape stability; A Phenological Network for Ecological Viticulture: soils and viticulture in Nebraska; Beaver in Agricultural Watersheds: Potential for Mitigating Degraded Midwestern streams; Investigation of soil properties and possible relationships to the stability of well grouts; Unique occurrence of vaterite in an upland Nebraska sandhills landscape<p><br /> <br /> Publications: 2 Peer-reviewed; 3 Abstracts. <p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Great Plains Field Pedology, Wetlands, Land Evaluation (Soil Judging), Forestry Short course, Range Short Course. <p><br /> <br /> North Dakota - David Hopkins - North Dakota State University<br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> North Dakota has increased the number of field soil scientists to 11, which is a significant increase from a few years ago. The State NRCS staff is actively promoting use of GIS and digital databases to facility soil survey update procedures and tasks. An NRCS funded project involving application of terrain analysis to update procedures is currently ongoing that involves Dr. David Franzen (NDSU) and Dr. Janis Boettinger (Utah State University). Several graduate students in the department are using GIS based approaches in their research, which is having a beneficial effect on our productivity. Several research projects are ongoing that will benefit our understanding of the spatial distribution of soil properties at the landscape scale. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Influence of geologic materials and pedogenic processes on trace elements and salinity in soil landscapes; Soil organic matter survey of the Glacial Ridge Project Area, northwestern MN; Characterization of the "alkali problem" and identification of tolerant corn in salt-affected soils of the Red River Valley; Devils Lake Basin Water Utilization Test Project; Effects of grazing on compaction of soils in the Little Missouri National Grasslands; Application of Terrain Analysis to Soil Survey<p><br /> <br /> Publications: 1 peer-reviewed<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Introduction to Soil Science, Advanced soil genesis, morphology, and classification<p><br /> <br /> Ohio - Neil E. Smeck - Ohio State University and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center<p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Four MLRA Project Offices have been established to maintain soil survey data in Ohio. Two of those project offices are completing county subset modernization projects whereas the other two are conducting MLRA-scale updating projects. A statewide digital soil information project with a goal of providing digital soils information for the entire state by 2006 is progressing on schedule. In support of this project, a computer lab utilizing electronic image rectification to compile maps onto ortho-photo bases has been established on campus using student employees in an attempt to generate more student interest in soil science. During the past year, the Ohio Soil Characterization Laboratory analyzed 27 pedons and 264 grab samples in support of the Ohio Soil Survey. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Evaluation of field estimates of accelerated erosion based on field morphological properties by chemical, physical, and micromorphological analyses; Concurrence of mineralogical characteristics and family class criteria for soils occurring in the K-rich region of NW Ohio; Influence of extractable Ca and Mg, Fe oxides, and amorphous components on i) silica sorption in fragipan and non-fragipan horizons and ii) soil rupture strengths; Changes in replaced soil and coal strip-mine spoil properties during the 25 year period following reclamation; Differences in nutrient cycling, processes, and soil properties among native forest ecosystems and long-term no-till and conventionally tilled agroecosystems in well and poorly drained landscapes. <p> <br /> <br /> Publications: 3 peer-reviewed journal articles; 1 abstract<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Introductory Soil Science, Introductory Soil Science Laboratory, Soil Management, Pedology<p><br /> <br /> Oregon- No Report<p><br /> <br /> South Dakota - Douglas D. Malo - South Dakota State University (SD Agricultural Experiment Station, Plant Science Department) <p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> All of SD has been mapped once and all counties have a published soil survey. Updates of soil surveys are being done by the SD Cooperative Soil Survey on a multi-county (MLRA) basis. Updates are in progress in MLRAs 60A, 61, 62, 64, 65, and 102A. All updates will be on an ortho-quad base. The soil survey for Minnehaha County was published. Working on a project to convert hardcopy soil lab and morphology data to digital format. Fact sheets (technical soil property information) for benchmark soils are being prepared. Assisting SD agencies in evaluating the feasibility of using Missouri River reservoir sediments for agricultural and other uses. Soil formation and properties are being evaluated in gold mine reclamation area. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Development of hydric soil properties under different temperature, time, and carbon levels; Assisted with the SD Cooperative Soil Survey in Codington and Lawrence Counties; Characterized 350+ soil samples for research and NRCS soil survey use; Soil property and carbon sequestration changes due to grazing management practices in rangeland (42 pedons being studied from Pennington County); Cooperative soil characterization and genesis study with NRCS in Black Hills area (MLRA 62); Changes in surface soil test levels of P and K since 1950 (county and regional changes); Developing Web site for soil images and other information; Land management impacts on soil properties after 12 years of cultivation (corn and soybeans), cool season grasses, and warm season grasses. <p> <br /> <br /> Publications: 8 peer-reviewed journal articles; 5 published abstracts; 1 lab manual; 67 CDs (old deteriorating air photos [1939-1954] of SD) <p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Soils, Soil Geography and Landuse, Soil Judging, Rural Real Estate Appraisal, Integrated Natural Resource Management, Teaching Experience, Advanced Soil Genesis, Field Studies in Pedology<p><br /> <br /> Wisconsin - Cynthia A. Stiles - University of Wisconsin - Madison<p><br /> <br /> Summary of Report: <p><br /> Initial mapping for all counties will be completed in 2005. Update mapping projects are completed in six counties, with one additional county expected completion by the end of 2005. Cooperative efforts are based on physiographic boundaries rather than political ones. Staffing shifts will begin from the northern tier of counties to the south as initial mapping and uupdates are completed. Work focused on MLRA 90, 92, 93, and 94 will shift to MLRA 105 and eventually to the southern portion of 91 and WI portion of 110 in the southeast. Field scientists utilize iPAQ handheld computers with GPS to create digital maps with ArcPad and 3D Mapper. Ortho Mapper is also used to rectify maps to orthophotos in digitizing efforts. A SoLIM-based update is on going for Dane County and new technology is being utilized in Iowa County to update existing survey. All 62 counties have published reports. <p><br /> <br /> Research Activities: Landscape model development for virtual mapping in MLRA 105 (Upper Mississippi Valley Loess Hills); Micromorphology and geochemical evaluation of soil genesis/stabilization from loess and carbonate bedrock; Geological landscape evolution in varying loess-covered bedrocks areas of the Driftless Area; Phosphorus geochemistry in residually developed Rountree Formation sub-soils; Evaluating soils model parameters for use in policy development for establishing and maintaining riparian buffers; Linking soil water and physicochemical properties with watershed modeling to predict erosion in MLRA 105 landscapes; Using soil spatial data and pre-evaluations for prairie restoration; Geochemical landscape survey of Wisconsin surface soils<p><br /> <br /> Publications: 2 peer-reviewed journal articles; 1 symposium; 5 abstracts<p><br /> <br /> Courses taught: Pedology, Advanced Pedology, Permafrost Soils Field Course (with Chien-Lu Ping at UAF)<br />

Publications

Olson, K.R., T.E. Fenton, N.E. Smeck, R.D. Hammer, M.D. Ransom, C.W. Zanner, R. McLeese, and Sucik, M.T. 2005. Identification, Mapping, Classification, and Interpretation of Eroded Mollisols in the U.S. Midwest. Soil Survey Horizons 46:23-35. <p><br /> Olson, K.R., T.E. Fenton, N.E. Smeck, R.D. Hammer, M.D. Ransom, C.W. Zanner, R. McLeese, and Sucik, M.T. 2005. Proposed Modifications of Mollic Epipedon Thickness Criteria for Eroded Conditions and Potential Impacts on Existing Soil Classifications. Soil Survey Horizons 46:39-47.<br />

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Members in attendance: ;
Terry Cooper, MN - Chair;
Mickey Ransom, KS - Chair-Elect;
Del Mokma, MI - Secretary;
Neil Smeck, OH;Ken Olson, IL;
Dave Hopkins, ND;
Cynthia Styles, WI;
Phil Owens, IN;
Mark Kuzila, NE;
Doug Malo, SD;
Maxine Levin, NCSS liaison;
Robert Ahrens, USDA-NRCS representative;
Randy Miles, MO, Guest;;
Gerald Miller, IA, Administrative Advisor;;
Members Absent:;
Andrew Manu, IA;
A.D. Karathanasis, KY;
Jay Noller, OR;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Introductions and Agency Reports

Meeting was called to order at 8:00 am on June 26 by Chair, Terry Cooper.

Terry distributed an agenda.

Minutes from the 2005 meeting were approved as distributed.

State reports will be distributed with the minutes.

Administrative Advisor's Report (Gerald Miller)

" G. Miller distributed the NCRA Impact Statement for NCERA-3.
" The Midterm Review is due after the NCERA-3 Meeting. Mickey Ransom and Del Mokma will assist Jerry in preparing a Progress Report for the Midterm Review. Citations for publications, not just numbers, from the past two years must be included.
" Jerry discussed status of the USDA-CSREES FY07 budget.
" Deans and Directors are working to create a new funding mechanism (Create 21) within USDA that combines CSREES, NASS, ERS, and ARS. The proposal includes a position of Chief Scientist. The position will report directly to the Secretary of Agriculture. The goals are to raise visibility and double funding over a 7 year period. The website is: http://www.create-21.org/

USDA-NRCS Report (Bob Ahrens)

" NRCS is reorganizing the Soil Survey Program
" A feasibility study is being conducted to determine if the private sector can do the work of the Soil Survey Center.
" Ag Handbook 296 Major Land Areas was revised and is available on the web. The website is: http://www.soils.usda.gov/survey/geography/mlra/index.html
" Field Indicators of Hydric Soils, version 6.0 is being revised. The list of indicators will be reduced dramatically.
" A new edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy will be published by Pocahontas Press
" Nineteen requests have been made for scan sites (soil temperature and soil moisture)
" Eleven formal training classes were scheduled.
" NRCS will accept proposals from universities wishing to host future Soil Science Institutes (on-campus training for NRCS field soil scientists)
" Benchmark Soils will be revised. Gaps must be filled. University data will supplement NRCS data.

NCSS Liaison Report (Maxine Levin)

" The Northeast Soil Survey Committee has a funded multistate project that concerns water issues.
" The West Soil Survey Committee has submitted a multistate funded project based on climate issues.
" The South Soil Survey Committee has no funded project but is working to develop a proposal.
" The next National Soil Survey Conference will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June 2007.

Old Business

Effects of Management on Soils Committee - Ken Olson
" Proposed changes for eroded conditions to Soil Taxonomy were rejected.
" Two papers were published in Soil Survey Horizons.
" New alternatives are being explored.
" Neil Smeck will present one of the alternatives in the Keynote Address at the North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference.

Education and Training Committee - Mickey Ransom
" No report
" Terry Cooper agreed to take over as Chair of the committee. He will conduct a survey during the fall that will obtain data on education and training needs.

High Intensity Soil Survey Committee - Phillip Owens
" A symposium was organized for the Soil Science Society of America Meeting in 2006 at Indianapolis.

Soil Research and Interpretations Committee - Cindy Stiles
" A survey will be sent to NCERA-3 members and to other regional soil survey committees.
" A similar survey was sent to academic cooperators, state soil scientists, and field soil scientists. A summary was included in the North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference notebook. See Attachment 1.

Ken Olson (IL) was elected secretary for 2007. The secretary for 2008 will be Dave Hopkins.

Kansas will be the next host for the 2008 North Central Soil Survey Conference.

New Business

Dave Hopkins and Mickey Ransom will be the NCERA-3 representatives to the National Soil Survey Conference in 2007. Mickey Ransom and Bryan Slater (OH) will be the representatives for the 2009 Conference.

The history of NCR-3/NCERA-3 will be published in the Fall 2006 issue of Soil Survey Horizons.

Education and training of soil scientists were discussed. Are we meeting the needs of NRCS? Field trips and laboratories are important to stakeholders. Soil judging is a very important activity that is enjoyed by students and was a turning point for career selection. The changes in soil science programs at each university were discussed. In general, there is a reduction in numbers of soil science students, faculty, and funding. Many universities have moved to the business model where outside funding, student credit hours, publications and citations are used to evaluate programs.

Regional Soil Map
" Electronic version of the regional soil map is available from Tom Fenton (tefenton@iastate.edu).
" Research and Interpretations Committee should consider use of this map
" This map should be put on the NIMMS website. Cindy will work to make it more user friendly and Jerry will put it on the website, when available.

Mickey Ransom noted the passing of Dr. Orville E. Bidwell, Professor Emeritus at Kansas State University, on June 5, 2006. Orville was a long-term member of NCR-3.

Meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon

Meeting Reconvened 7:30 am on Thursday June 29.

Bob Ahrens was absent.

Jerry discussed the House Soils Caucus.

Multistate projects were discussed. They are the objective 2 of NCERA-3.

Human impacts on the soil resource in the region could be determined using the regional soil map.
" Loss of prime farmland.
" Soil erosion
" Soil drainage
" Loss of wetlands

This topic was referred to the Soil Research and Interpretations Committee.

Multistate field soils courses were discussed.
" Such courses would be multistate, not necessarily regional
" Summer semester
" Rotate from state to state

This topic was referred to the Education and Training Committee.

Phil Owens and Cindy Stiles will lead the development of a NCERA-3 proposal.

A resolution was passed to express appreciation to Neil Smeck for his many years of service to NCR-3/NCERA-3.

The 2007 meeting of NCERA-3 will be in conjunction with the National Soil Survey Conference in Bloomington, MN in late June. The 2008 meeting will be in conjunction with the North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference in Kansas.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 am.




Approved:



Signed: Del Mokma 9/06/2006
Del Mokma Date
NCERA-3 Secretary 2006


Signed: Gerald Miller 9/06/2006
Gerald Miller Date
NCR-3 Administrative Advisor 2006

Accomplishments

See Meeting minutes

Publications

Olson, K.R., T.E. Fenton, N.E. Smeck, R.D. Hammer, M.D. Ransom, C.W. <br /> Zanner, R. McLeese, and M.T. Sucik. 2005. Identification, mapping, classification, and interpretation of eroded Mollisols in the U.S. Midwest. <br /> Soil Survey Horizons 46:23-35.<br /> <br /> Olson, K.R., T.E. Fenton, N.E. Smeck, R.D. Hammer, M.D. Ransom, C.W. <br /> Zanner, R. McLeese, and M.T. Sucik. 2005. Proposed modifications of mollic epipedon thickness criteria for eroded conditions and potential impacts on existing soil classifications. Soil Science Society of America. Soil Survey Horizons 46:39-47.<br /> <br /> Joeckel, R.M., Ang Clement, B., and Van Fleet, L.R., 2005, Sulfate mineral crusts, pyrite weathering, and acid rock drainage in the Dakota Formation and Graneros Shale (Cretaceous), Jefferson County, Nebraska. Chemical Geology v. 215, p. 433-452.<br /> <br /> Joeckel, R.M. and Ang Clement, B J., 2005, Soils, Surficial Geology, and Geomicrobiology of Saline-Sodic Wetlands, North Platte River Valley, Nebraska, USA. Catena v. 61, p. 63-101.<br /> <br /> Amundson, T. A, and D. G. Hopkins. 2005 Establishing a baseline for soil organic carbon on the Glacial Ridge Restoration Project. Second International Water Conference, April 6-7th, Winnipeg, MB<br /> <br /> Steele D. D. and D. G. Hopkins. 2005. Devils Lake Basin: A year of accomplishments. 42nd Annual Joint North Dakota Water Convention and Irrigation Expo. December 8th, Bismarck, ND<br /> <br /> Doolittle J. A., B. Jenkinson, D. Hopkins, M.Ulmer, and W. Tuttle. 2006. Hydropedological investigations with ground-penetrating radar (GPR): Estimating water-table depths and local ground water flow pattern in areas of coarse-textured soils. Geoderma 131:317-329.<br />

Impact Statements

1. The Research Priorities Committee conducted a survey in May, 2006, to provide guidance for planning the direction and allocation of human resources for cooperative projects between the NRCS-Soil Survey Division, local, state and federal partners, and academic cooperators in the North Central Region. A nine question survey querying the cooperators on present conditions and future directions was sent out to the 13 representatives from each of the Land Grant Universities in the region. Of the 13 requests, seven cooperators responded (54%). This survey has sparked interest across the country as other academic participants found out about it. The survey as been passed on to Mike Golden at the National level for consideration for further decimation amongst NRCS personnel. The survey will also be forwarded to academic participants in the other regions (Northeastern, Southern, and Western), hoping to gather a larger pool of respondents for statistical evaluation.

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Report Information

Participants

Brief Summary of Minutes

Introductions and Agency Reports

Meeting was called to order by Mickey Ransom at 1:05P.M. on June 3, 2007.

Location: Lowell Hall Lower Lounge, 610 Langdon Street, Madison, WI

Minutes from 2006 meeting were approved as distributed.

Administrative Advisor's Report (Gerald Miller)

Jerry circulated a membership list and requested members to update email addresses and telephone numbers if needed.
He discussed budget proposals. Create-21 would include Extension, Teaching and Research. CSREES and ARS program may be combined. NIMSS official committee list is missing a few names. Need to have possible committee members not listed file an appendix E (MO and IA). Mid-term review was approved by NCA-1 and NCRA MRC. Federal budget update was given including changes in Hatch funding level. FY07 continuing resolution eliminated earmarks but gave them back in Hatch. Total $322 million for Hatch. National Institute of Food and Agriculture - modeled after NSF and NIH. Mandatory Farm Bill funding. Concern about how Extension fits in.

NCERA-3 is authorized from 10/01/2004 until 9/30/2009. Will need to assign a writing committee at the next committee meeting in 2008 to prepare a project renewal proposal that is due by December 15, 2008.

USDA - NRCS NSSC Report (Bob Ahrens)

Discussed implementation of MLRA Project Office organization: Not much money for moves. Varies from state to state. New version of Web Soil Survey is available (Version 2.0). Shopping cart feature for doing a custom soil survey report. PLS data layer - can get section. Can get Federal Land boundaries. Corrected the shift on area of interest. Will have a demo this week.

Personnel changes: Chris Smith - new National Leader for Technical Soil Services. Position moved from Lincoln to Washington, DC. Jon Gerken - soil scientist position in Washington, DC. David Hammer - National Soil Survey Leader for Soil Survey Investigations is moving to EPA effective 7/22/07. Looking to fill a research soil scientist position in National Soil Survey Laboratory. 15 people at National Soil Survey Center are eligible for retirement. Characterization data output time has improved
No set aside money for earmarks this year. Asked for proposals in case money is allocated at the end. Big challenge in losing experience and knowledge with retirements.

USDA - NRCS NCSS National Headquarters - Maxine Levin

Jon Gerken will be working with day to day management of soil survey. Will work with the MLRA restructuring plan. Chris Smith will be looking at new applications for soil survey. 5-year investment plan - decision support for the soil survey program. 155 people registered for this conference - more than 50% from outside of NRCS. Federal Land Mapping GS-13 position as National Park Service data manager with Cooperative Soil Survey - two year term that could be renewed for up to 4 years. Forest Service and BLM may develop similar positions.

Old Business

Standing committees:

Effects of Management of Soils Committee - Ken Olson

The committee has been very active. Neil Smeck presented a proposal for classification of soils modified by human activities at the NC Soil Survey Conference in Medora, ND and at the WCSS. Neil Smeck presented his proposal to differentiate steady state and dynamic soil properties in Soil Taxonomy at the 18th World Congress Soil Science Symposium in Philadelphia, PA. (Abstracts, p.137). The proposal was well received but not fully understood. Craig Ditzler sent out a copy of Neil's proposal to all of the MO Leaders in NRCS. Neil has been given a 1 hour session at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the NCSSC to discuss the proposal. NRCS has indicated that they will not accept the term "anthropogenic deviant." Will probably use "anthropogenic variant."

Education and Training Committee - Terry Cooper

A one-page report was distributed of a survey that we conducted. Lots of programs are training students in soils that have environmental science or conservation in the title. Very few have soil science as the name. Numbers are all over the place as to whether programs are going up or down. Numbers of actual soil science graduates are 3, 5, 10, and 12. No new surprises in the survey results. It is still not too late to turn in the surveys to Terry. Much discussion about declining enrollments despite increases in the enrollment in general interest low-level soil science courses. North Dakota State Soil Science Department will be renamed the School of Natural Resources Science. Received responses from Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Survey was conducted of the North Central universities who train soils students. Many universities are combining soils training under a broader program area with subsections related to soils courses.

High Intensity Soil survey Committee - Phillip Owens

Sponsored a symposium at SSSA meetings in 2006 in Indianapolis in cooperation with the National Consulting Soil Scientists. Symposium included 15 posters and 10 presentations and a 15 minute panel discussion. Consultants presented papers. Will try to develop some sort of publication dealing with high intensity soil surveys.

Soil Research and Interpretations committee - Cindy Stiles

Will focus on what soil survey research activities are occurring in the various Departments. She served on an NCSS Committee on research priorities. Discussion included questions about what direction we should go. Soil survey program often comes up with questions that need immediate answers. As researchers we often can not come up with the answers without doing extensive research. Will try to do the survey at the national level and will attempt to determine research problems that need to be worked on. Need to identify areas earlier so that problems can be the focus of graduate research efforts and need to state problems.

Regional soil Map

Cindy Stiles and Lee Burras will attempt to obtain the information from Tom Fenton and put it into a database which is accessible by others. More work needs to be done.

National Advisory Board/committees -

National Soil Survey Database:
Ken Olson is serving as committee member and has been interacting with the National Soil Survey Laboratory to resolve how to identify methods used by each state for each laboratory analyses over time. Attempt will be made by NSSL to acquired state laboratory data and field soil descriptions and identify the methods used to analyze the soil samples. Funds for this project have been awarded to Idaho State University, to hold the funds, while contracts for service or agreements are made with 9 other university laboratories to upload the soil characterization data and soil descriptions into NASIS. The soil descriptions will be entered into pedon_pc v.3.0 which uses MS Access database. NRCS is attempting to select and transfer start up money to initiate the project which is currently being supervised by Dr. David Hammer.

National Soil Taxonomy committee-

Ken Olson (IL) will serve for one more year (2007), Lee Burras (IA) will serve a 2 year term (2007, 2008) and Mark Kuzila (NE) will serve a 3 year term (2007, 2008, and 2009). Ken Olson (IL) should be replaced in 2008 by a member from current east region (MI, OH, or IN).

National Soil Survey Conference Subcommittee:

NCSS National Conference Steering Committee members (2007) are David Hopkins and Mickey Ransom. NCSS National Conference Steering Committee (2009) Mickey Ransom and Brian Slater. Scheduled to be in the west region in 2009.

National Cooperative Soil Survey Group to Director of Soil Survey Operations  Mickey Ransom and Cindy Stiles.


New Business

Update of Impact Statement at NIMSS website. A subcommittee of Mickey Ransom, Del Mokma, Ken Olson and Dave Hopkins developed and edited a Soil Survey (NCERA-3) Impact nugget. This document was reviewed by the entire NCERA-3 committee and will be discussed again by the full committee at our next session on (6/6/2007) with plans to have it posted to web by September 2007. Mickey Ransom was assigned and accepted that task.

Discussion of midterm review from NCRA Multistate Research Committee

The following statement by the MRC that the NCERA-3 "committee should begin to consider a future where it more fully integrates its activities with emerging technologies and applications" was discussed. The committee initially thought that is what it was doing but perhaps it needs to be more clearly documented. A committee name change and shift in activity might be appropriate in the next revised proposal to more fully describe its use of emerging technologies and applications.

Cindy Stiles made a motion that we adjourn for the day. Phillip Owens 2nd it and motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 4:45P.M. on Sunday, June 3, 2007

Meeting Reconvened at Pyle Center Room 111 at 3:30 P.M. on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Mike Konen joined the meeting.

Discussion continued related to the NCRA MRC review and the future of NCERA-3. Dave Hopkins made a motion that we send in any revisions to the impact state prior to posting on web. These changes should be submitted by August 15, 2007.

The committee name change will be addressed in the next proposal committee renewal.

A writing committee to prepare a draft project renewal proposal was formed. The committee is composed of Del Mokma, Ken Olson, Dave Hopkins and Phillip Owens. The committee was charged to prepare a draft proposal by the 2008 NCERA-3 meeting. The proposal is due December 15, 2008.


Committee accomplishments:

High Intensity soils symposium at SSSA in 2006

Human impact on soil proposal (Smeck proposal)

Participation on standing committees at the National Soil Survey Conference, Madison, WI

Paper presented on Human impact on soil at 18th World Congress of Soil Science

Conducted educational survey of NC university related to training of soil scientist.

Helped revise the Sharkey report

Published a paper in Soil Survey Horizons 47:61-64, titled "Contributions of North Central Regional Committee 3 to Regional and National Cooperative Soil Survey Programs"

Committee impacts

Invited presentation on classification of human impacted soils


Other items

Cindy Stiles reported on the Research committee work and asked that existing state soil characterization laboratory directors form a committee to work on soil sample exchange and testing. Committee will be chaired by Cindy Stiles with Mickey Ransom and Randy Miles as committee members. There is a chance Ohio State University laboratory might participate. Other states will be asked to nominate soils and collect soil samples for testing.

Cindy also indicate the need to collect more soil carbon related information and perhaps use newer methods such as liter bags, micro plates and other procedures. It was not clear how much of the research could be related to NCERA-3. Might overlap with other regional committees working on soil carbon sequestration or soil organic matter. Characterizing the soil carbon content clearly fits with NCERA-3 objectives.

Cindy also discussed water table studies both past and present and an upcoming Water table workshop related to monitoring climate change.

Cindy Stiles and Lee Burras will work to get regional soil map on an interactive format so that an urban expansion map and a productive farmlands map can be overlain and distributed.

Phillip Owen will work with SSSA and serve as a liaison with Congressional staff to help bring attention to soil survey and soil laboratory issues and needs.

State reports: Electronic copies should be sent to Ken Olson by June 30, 2007.

David Hopkins will be secretary for the 2008 NCERA-3 meeting. That meeting will be a joint meeting with the North Central Soil Survey conference which will start at 1:00P.M. on the day before the conference which is scheduled for June 24, 2008 and ending on June 26, 2009 in Manhattan, KS. At this time it is not clear whether the Conference field trip will be during the conference or on the Monday before (June 23rd). If it is then the NCERA-3 meeting would be on Sunday June 22, 2008 with a follow-up meeting on Wednesday June 25, 2008. Phillip Owens was elected as secretary-elect for the 2009 NCERA-3 meeting. If invited we might meet with the NCSSC in 2009 which is scheduled to be in the west region.

The incoming FY08 Executive Committee members are:

Mickey Ransom - Past Chair
Del Mokma - Chair
Ken Olson - Chair-elect
David Hopkins - Secretary

The individual state reports are attached.

Submitted by K.R. Olson, 2007 NCERA-3 Secretary

Approved: Mickey Ransom, Chair July 31, 2007
Approved: Gerald A. Miller, Administrative Advisor July 31, 2007

Accomplishments

High Intensity soils symposium at SSSA in 2006 <br /> <br /> Human impact on soil proposal (Smeck proposal)<br /> <br /> Participation on standing committees at the National Soil Survey Conference, Madison, WI<br /> <br /> Paper presented on Human impact on soil at 18th World Congress of Soil Science<br /> <br /> Conducted educational survey of NC university related to training of soil scientist.<br /> <br /> Helped revise the Sharkey report<br /> <br /> Published a paper in Soil Survey Horizons 47:61-64, titled Contributions of North Central Regional Committee 3 to Regional and National Cooperative Soil Survey Programs<br />

Publications

See Publications in State Reports in Meeting Minutes.

Impact Statements

1. Invited presentation on classification of human impacted soils

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Report Information

Participants

Members in attendance:;
Terry Cooper - Minnesota; David Hopkins - North Dakota; Mark Kuzila - Nebraska;
Doug Malo - South Dakota; Del Mokma - Michigan; Ken Olson - Illinois; Mickey Ransom - Kansas; Phillip Owens - Indiana; Bob Ahrens - NRCS Lincoln; Larry West - NRCS Lincoln; Maxine Levin - NCSS Washington D.C.;;


Administrative Advisor - Gerald Miller;;


Guests: Cleveland Watts - NRCS, Kansas; DeAnn Presley, Kansas State University; Brian Slater - Ohio State University; Randy Miles - University of Missouri;;


Members absent:;
Lee Burras, Iowa; Gary Steinhardt, Indiana; A.D. Karathanasis, Kentucky; Mike Konen, Illinois; Neil Smeck, Ohio (retired); Cynthia Stiles, Wisconsin (resigned)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Sunday - June 22nd, 1:00 p.m. 2002 Throckmorton Hall
Del Mokma opened the meeting and welcomed representatives and guests present, and asked if there were any additions to the agenda.

1. Approval of minutes from the 2007 meeting
The minutes had been emailed previously, David Hopkins moved to approve the minutes. T. Cooper seconded. Unanimously approved.

2. Administrative Advisor Report - Jerry Miller

Dr. Miller discussed address corrections for the NIMSS website and also for the NCERA-3 listserve, which Mickey Ransom manages at KSU.

A major task is to edit and formalize the NCERA-3 Project renewal. The writing committee consists of Ken Olson, Del Mokma, Phillip Owens and David Hopkins; Dr. Mokma has been serving as chair of this subcommitee. When the Project Renewal is completed it will be uploaded to the NIMSS website. All members of the NCERA-3 Committee are required to file an Appendix E (Request to participate on committee) for the NIMSS site also. There was some discussion on methods for uploading and registering the Project Renewal on NIMSS. Dr. Miller stressed that the committee formalize a new name for NCERA-3 activity that reflects 21st Century concepts and our evolving scope as soil and landscape scientists.

The Farm Bill passed last week after 2 vetoes by the President. CSREES will be renamed National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). AFRI  Agriculture and Food Research Initiative will contain the new NRI program. Dr. Miller shared additional information on the organizational structure resulting from the Farm Bill and passed out a handout of same for the committee.

3. USDA - NRCS Report - Bob Ahrens
The reorganization of the new MLRA offices will be completed by the end of 2010. These MLRA offices will prioritize a "laundry list" of the problems or deficiencies that exist within each of the MLRA's. Examples: gypsum rich soils in the American SW region - subaqueous soils in the northeast. The new Deputy Chief of the NRCS, Mr. Wayne Maresh, was a former state conservationist and earlier a soil scientist and a supporter of the soil survey program.. Paul Benedict, former Leader of MO 10 in Bismarck, ND is now a Program Leader in Washington D.C. Dr. Larry West was appointed as research leader for the Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, NE and Dr. Cindy Stiles was appointed as Laboratory Supervisor in the Chemistry Department. Rebecca Burt, who was on detail in Iraq, has safely returned to Lincoln. There have been several retirements including Bob Engel and Tom Reedy, both on the Standards Staff. An additional Research Soil Scientist with statistical skills will be hired to address research needs on dynamic soil properties and help mine the characterization data.

Mr. Ahrens stated that several Soil Survey outreach initiatives have occurred over the last few years including the popular Centennial exhibit showcased at the World Congress of Soil Science in Philadelphia. The national staff has addressed the Alliance of Independent Crop Scientists, as well as landscape planners and professional architects societies to stress the utility and scope of soil survey information for their respective applications.

The Soil Geomorphic Institute training schedule was discussed as well as the responsibilities of the NCSS partners in the host states- the sequence is Penn State, 2008 and possibly Lalabama or Texas A&M in 2009. The Soil Survey Characterization database conversion project was also discussed, i.e. geospatial requirements for the pedons, and novel optical scanning techniques to digitize lab data or pedon descriptions. Additional monies will likely be channeled into this effort in FY 2009.

4. USDA - NCSS Liaison Report - Maxine Levin
Summary and impressions of the National Soil Survey Conference (NSSC) in Madison, WI-2007: More than 40% of the attendees at the conference were non-federal, a significant occurrence, perhaps indicating growing awareness of soil survey information and its utility for multiple users. The Kansas Conference is the 3rd of the 4 regional conferences, each of which take on regional issues; i.e., the Northeast - subaqueous soils and hydropedology. The fact that NOAA is beginning to fund some of the soils research speaks to the wider audience alluded to earlier. The West region (Spokane, WA) met last week and featured presentations on ecological site descriptions as well as research on state and transition models. The Southern region Conference meets in mid-July and has adopted a pedometrics conference theme.

Toby O'Geen, UC-Davis, organized a group similar to NCERA-3 focused on climate change in the southwest and NRCS has committed to support this group's research if they work with the state offices and the MLRA offices on benchmark soil landscapes. Participants are operating on a shoestring, trying to set up a LTER structure using their own grant money or CSREES funding.

In 2009, the National Work Planning Conference convenes in Las Cruces, NM from about May 15-20th. The Jornada Range Experiment Station will help host this Conference, and, as the Carlsbad National Park Soil Survey is in full swing, a post conference field trip may occur at that locale. The major emphasis will be desert landscapes and dynamic soil properties. There is a good possibility that NCERA-3 could schedule their yearly meeting for this conference.

There was a brief discussion on the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) initiative of the NSF in terms of consultation with the NRCS. Apparently, there has not been much collaboration. Mickey Ransom believed that the Konza Prairie location had been selected as a NEON site.

5. Revision of NCERA-3 Project Renewal
Del Mokma distributed the draft project renewal to the full committee to carefully review prior to the meeting and several members made comments. He suggested that the committee meet at 7:00 a.m. Monday morning to discuss and improve the renewal draft produced by the writing subcommittee. Dr. Miller commented on the specific accomplishments and impacts of the Committee over the past 5 years and suggested that Committee members be sure to include the various impacts in the final project renewal document.

Monday - June 23rd, 7:00-9:00 a.m.; 2002 Throckmorton Hall

This session of the NCERA-3 Committee was devoted to reviewing and revising the NCERA-3 Project Renewal document. Dr. Mokma asked the Committee to meet after the banquet at 8:00 p.m. in 2002 Throckmorton Hall to continue its business.

Monday - June 23rd, 8:00 p.m.; 2002 Throckmorton Hall

6. Committee Reports
1) Standing Committees
a) Soil Research and Interpretations Committee
This topic was covered in the Regional Conference  Randy Miles, Mickey Ransom and Brian Slater will continue to serve on this subcommittee.
b) Effects of Management on Soils Committee  Ken Olson
The Committee decided to drop this subcommittee because the Dr. Smecks proposal for the anthropogenic deviant presented at the NC Regional Soil Survey Conference in 2006 and at the World Congress of Soil Science was not being adopted.
c) Education and Training Committee  Terry Cooper
Terry Cooper, Chair; members Doug Malo, Phillip Owens, Mickey Ransom, David Hopkins. Overall numbers of soil science majors are relatively low in the region, but the number of agronomy students is at an all time high in South Dakota. Some of the largest scholarships in that department are in soils.
d) High Intensity Soil Survey  Phillip Owens
Philip Owens organized an SSSA symposia but has not had any recent activity in this area. The Committee still believes this in an important area for activity.


2) National Advisory Boards/Committees
a) National Soil Taxonomy Committee -
Brian Slater will participate in the national reviews of amendments to Soil Taxonomy.
b) National Soil Survey Database Committee
Ken Olson will continue to work on the database issues; his state is participating in the NRCS Data Conversion Project.
c) NCSS National Conference Steering Committee (2009)
Mickey Ransom, co-host for the 2008 conference and Brian Slater, co-host of the 2009 conference are automatically assigned as members of the steering committee for the next conference.
d) NCSS Advisory Group to Director of Soil Survey Operations
Mickey Ransom stated this committee has been inactive for about 9 months and that the NCERA-3 Committee does not control the timing or agenda for the NCSS Advisory Group. He anticipates a teleconference within the next few weeks.


7. Old Business
a) Chair of Soil Research and Interpretation Subcommittee
The Committee will keep the current subcommittee members, Miles, Ransom and Slater
b) State Reports
Individual State Reports were received by the Secretary electronically from the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Two states have vacant university pedology positions, Wisconsin and Ohio, and the Iowa representative has been in Africa since late May.
State reports will be attached to the minutes and may be accessed on the NIMMS website.
c) Other Items
David Hopkins, Ken Olson, and Phillip Owens will form a subcommittee to formulate a potential interaction with NCERA-59. Plans include a joint symposium on Soil Carbon Sequestration at the 2009 ASA meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
Doug Malo suggested a subcommittee generate an outline/schematic for MLRA wide research projects since we are planning to emphasize landscape scale research in the Project Renewal; members will include Hopkins, Kuzila, and Malo
NCERA-3 plans to propose an invitation to a joint meeting with NCERA-3, NCERA-59, and NC 1017 to be held at the NC Regional Soil Survey Conference in Ohio in 2010. This item will be determined among the committee via email.
Phillip Owens was elected Secretary for the 2009 NCERA-3 meeting with Doug Malo acting as secretary at the 2009 meeting due to a schedule conflict. Officer rotations for future years will be maintained in accordance with the standing list.
d) Next meeting in Las Cruces, NM, May 15-20, 2009.

Wednesday - June 25, 4:15 p.m.; Flint Hills Room K-State Student Union

This session of the NCERA-3 Committee was devoted to reviewing and revising the NCERA-3 lists of accomplishments and impacts.

Accomplishments:
Met jointly with NCERA-59, Soil Organic Matter: Formation, Function and Management;

Planned and hosted the 2008 North Central Soil Survey Conference to include chairing of selected technical committees;

Participated in National Reviews of Amendments to Soil Taxonomy;

The IRIS Tubes technique was used to evaluate soil saturation in mollisols in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. This technique was developed by a NCERA-3 member in Indiana;

NCERA-3 members served as coaches of Collegiate Soil Judging Teams and as judges of Regional Soil Judging contests. In addition, they have solicited participation of land grant and non-land grant institutions in soil judging activities. Teams from the North Central Region have won the National Championship in Soil Judging for the past two years

Impact Statements:
As a result of regional testing of the Iris Tubes, the NRCS is considering this technique to evaluate hydric/wetlands soil conditions;

As a result of the NCERA-3 Committees persistent work on human impacted/eroded soils the NRCS has changed both the approach and the documentation of eroded soils for the National Cooperative Soil Survey;

As a result of presentations and discussion at the 2006 NCSS Conference (Medora, ND), the NRCS has reopened negotiations with the USGS to cooperate in a national geochemical landscape initiative. Two benchmark catena trace element studies were initiated in Indiana and Illinois to provide baseline data related to soil processes;

As a result of active NCERA-3 participation in Regional collegiate soil judging contests, NRCS views this activity as a critical recruiting event to encourage more students to participate in federal Soil Science and Soil Survey careers;

As a result of active support by NCERA-3 members and NRCS cooperation, the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit in Washington DC will open July 18, 2008 for 18 months with specific information on the benefits of no till and soil survey information. This exhibit will potentially introduce the field of Soil Science to over 1 million visitors a year.


The incoming FY09 Executive Committee members are:

Del Mokma - Past Chair

Ken Olson - Chair

David Hopkins - Chair-Elect

Phillip Owens - Secretary

The individual state reports are attached

Submitted by David Hopkins, 2008
NCERA-3 Secretary

Approved:


Delbert Mokma, Chair; Gerald Miller, Administrative Advisor

Accomplishments

Met jointly with NCERA-59 - Soil Organic Matter: Formation, Function and Management<br /> <br /> <br /> Planned and hosted the 2008 North Central Soil Survey Conference to include chairing of selected technical committees.<br /> <br /> <br /> Participated in National Reviews of Amendments to Soil Taxonomy<br /> <br /> <br /> The IRIS Tubes technique was used to evaluate soil saturation in mollisols in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. This technique was developed by a NCERA-3 member in Indiana.<br /> <br /> <br /> NCERA-3 members served as coaches of Collegiate Soil Judging Teams and as judges of Regional Soil Judging contests. In addition, they have solicited participation of land grant and non-land grant institutions in soil judging activities. Teams from the North Central Region have won the National Championship in Soil Judging for the past two years.<br />

Publications

Kansas Report<br /> <br /> Gehl, R.J. and C.W. Rice. 2007. Emerging technologies for in situ measurement of soil carbon. Climatic Change (In Press).<br /> <br /> Gunal, H., and M.D. Ransom. 2006. Genesis and micromorphology of loess-derived soils from central Kansas. Catena 65:222-236.<br /> <br /> Gunal, H., and M.D. Ransom. 2006. Clay illuviation and calcium carbonate accumulation along a precipitation gradient in Kansas. Catena 68:59-69.<br /> <br /> Izaurralde, R.C. and C.W. Rice, 2006: Methods and tools for designing pilot soil carbon sequestration projects. pp. 457-476. In R. Lal, C.C. Cerri, M. Bernoux, J. Etchvers, and E. Cerri. (eds.) Carbon Sequestration in Soils of Latin America. Food Products Press: The Haworth Press, Inc., Binghampton, NY.<br /> <br /> <br /> Illinois Report<br /> <br /> Olson, K.R. 2007. Soil organic carbon storage in southern Illinois woodland and cropland. Soil Science 172: 623-630.<br /> <br /> Olson, K.R. R.L. Jones, A.N. Gennadiyev, S. Chernyanskii, W.I. Woods, and J.M. Lang. <br /> 2006. Fly ash distribution to assess erosion and deposition in an Illinois landscape. Soil and Tillage 89:155-166.<br /> <br /> Gennadiyev, A.N., S.S. Chernyanskii, K.R. Olson, and R.G. Kovach. 2006 Use of magnetic spherules as indicators of mass-transfer process in soils. Herald Journal of Moscow State University, Geography. No. 3. 29-35.<br /> <br /> <br /> Indiana Report<br /> <br /> Peer Reviewed Publications:<br /> Smith, D.R., P.R. Owens, A.B. Leytem and E.A. Warnemuende. 2007. Nutrient losses from manure and fertilizer applications as impacted by time to first runoff event. Environmental Pollution.147:131-137. <br /> <br /> Armstrong, S.D., D.R. Smith, and P.R. Owens. 2007. Strategies to reduce nutrient losses from land applied animal manure. Water Practice. 1:4. Available On-Line at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wef/wp (5/21/2007).<br /> <br /> Miles, D. M., D.E. Rowe and P.R. Owens. 2007. Winter Broiler Litter Gases and Nitrogen Compounds: Temporal and Spatial Trends. Atmospheric Environment (accepted 28 Nov 2006, Available online 15 February 2007) doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.11.056<br /> <br /> Hart, K.S., B. D. Lee, P. S. Schoeneberger, D. P. Franzmeier, P. R. Owens and D.R. Smith. 2008. Comparison of field saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements to estimated morphological loading rates in Northeastern Indiana. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. In Press <br /> <br /> Lin, H.S., J. Bouma, P.R. Owens, and M. Vepraskas. 2008. Hydropedology: Fundamental Issues and Practical Applications. Catena 73:151-152<br /> <br /> Owens, P.R., L.P. Wilding, W.M. Miller and R.W. Griffin. 2008. Using Iron Metal Rods to Infer Oxygen Status In Seasonally Saturated Soils. Catena 73:197-203 <br /> <br /> Winzeler, H.E., P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern, J.J. Camberato, B.D. Lee, D.E. Anderson and D.R. Smith. 2008. Potassium fertility and terrain attributes in a Fragiudalf drainage catena. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. In Press<br /> <br /> Miles, D.M., P.R. Owens, P.A. Moore, Jr. and D.E. Rowe. 2008. Instrumentation for evaluating differences in ammonia volatilization from broiler litter and cake. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. (Accepted for publication: 11 May 2008) <br /> <br /> Dungan, R.S., B.D. Lee, P. Shouse and J. de Koff. 2007. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils blended with waste foundry sands. Soil Sci. In press.<br /> <br /> Book Chapter:<br /> Schulze, D.G., R. R. Struthers, P.R. Owens and George E. Van Scoyoc. 2007. Teaching Soil-Landscape Interactions Using Rugged Tablet PCs in the Field. In D.A. Berque, J. C. Prey, R. H. Reed, (eds.) The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-Based Technology on Education: Beyond the Tipping Point. Pp. 119-127. Purdue University Press. ISBN: 1557534616<br /> <br /> Abstracts:<br /> Owens, P.R. and E. Kladivko. 2007. Influence of Tile Drainage on the Perched Seasonal Water Tables in a Clermont Silt Loam Soil. In Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI <br /> <br /> Schulze, D.G. and P.R. Owens. 2007. Have Soils in Northwestern Indiana Been Influenced by Post-Glacial Acid Sulfate Weathering? In Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI <br /> <br /> Schulze, D., P.R. Owens, G. Van Scoyoc and D. Eisert. 2007. Virtual Profiles-Generating diagrams of soils from written profile descriptions. In Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI<br /> <br /> Winzeler, H.E., P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee, J. Camberato, and B.C. Joern. 2007. Lateral Clay Movement and Soil Wetness in a Fragiaqualf catena. In Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI<br /> <br /> Miles, D.M., Rowe, D.E., Owens, P.R., Moore, P.A., Jr., and Smith, D.R. 2007. Cumulative ammonia quantification from litter with instantaneous flux estimates. Presented at the 2007 International Poultry Scientific Forum. Atlanta, GA. Jan. 22-23, 2007. Abstract In International Poultry Scientific Forum Abstracts, page 54. [CD-ROM]. U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Tucker, GA.<br /> <br /> Winzeler, H.E., B.C. Joern, P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee, and J. Camberato. 2007. Potassium Availability and Soil Wetness in a Fragiaqualf catena. In Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA. Madison, WI<br /> <br /> Libohova, Z., L.C. Bowling, P.R. Owens, P. Schoeneberger, B.D. Lee, and H.E. Winzeler. 2008. The prediction of Soil Moisture Distribution for a small catchment by the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) based on SSURGO soil maps in southern Indiana. AGU Hydrology Days. Denver CO. March 26-28, 2008.<br /> <br /> Sylvester, L., L.C. Bowling, P.R. Owens, B. Cooper and T. West. 2008. Characterization and Analysis of an Isolated Wetland Receiving Agricultural Runoff. Geological Society of America North-Central Meeting. Evansville, IN.<br /> <br /> Extension Publications<br /> Lee, B.D., P.R. Owens, L.C. Bowling and B.C. Joern. 2008. Considering soil properties when siting confined animal feeding operations. CAFO-ID 368. <br /> <br /> Owens, P.R., B.C. Joern, B.D. Lee and L.C. Bowling. 2008. Using Web Soil Survey to investigate potential confined animal feeding operation locations. CAFO- ID 367. <br /> <br /> Bowling, L.C., P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee and B.C. Joern. 2008. Watersheds and confined animal feeding operations. CAFO- ID 369.<br /> <br /> Non-Peer Reviewed Publications<br /> <br /> Porter, T., P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee and G. Van Scoyoc. 2008. How soil and landform characteristics relate to landslide activity - a review. Soil Survey Horizons. 49:14-18 <br /> <br /> Using Terrain Attributes to Develop Management Zones for Potassium Fertility. 2008. H.E. Winzeler, P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern, J.J. Camberato, B.D. Lee, D.R. Smith, and B.J. Erickson. Site Specific Management Center Newsletter.<br /> http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/ssmc/Frames/SSMCNewsletter4_2008.pdf<br /> <br /> Schulze, D.G., R.R. Struthers, P.R. Owens, and G.E. Van Scoyoc. 2007. Teaching soil  landscape interactions using rugged tablet PCs in the field. Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference. Purdue University. April 3-4, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.<br /> <br /> <br /> Iowa Report<br /> <br /> Peer-reviewed<br /> Wills, S.A., C.L. Burras and J.A. Sandor. 2007. Prediction of soil organic carbon content using field and laboratory measurements of soil color. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 71:380-388.<br /> <br /> Book-chapters<br /> McMichael, J., C.L. Burras and S.A. Wills. 2007. Understanding pasture quality, soil quality and soil carbon content relationships in south central Iowa. R. Drake (Ed.). Proc. 3rd Natl. Conf. Grazing Lands. USDA-NRCS Grazing Lands Initiative, Davis, OK. p. 194-196.<br /> <br /> Dissertations/Theses<br /> Norton, Amy E. 2007. Dynamic soil properties across a suburban landscape, Ankeny, Iowa. (Major Professor: Andrew Manu).<br /> <br /> Research Reports<br /> Brummer, E.C. and C.L. Burras. 2007. Switchgrass production in Iowa: Soil suitability and varietal performance. Final Report, Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DE-FC36-96GO10148). 23 pages.<br /> <br /> <br /> Minnesota Report 2008<br /> <br /> Jim Anderson, Jay Bell, Dan Wheeler, Greg Larson, Kim Steffen, Mike Whited, & Al Giencke, 2008. Seasonal Saturation and Landscapes - a compendium of NCSS, MAES and Wet Soil Monitoring data from the past 4 decades. This will become required text for all Wetland Delineators and SSTS professionals - Fall 2008.<br /> <br /> Onsite Sewage Treatment Program, 2008. Regional Soils and Landscape Interpretation Guides for Recent Rule Revisions with the Minnesota Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems Rules. (Based on MGS, SSURGO, Saturation publication, site investigations and a priori information). <br /> <br /> <br /> Missouri Report<br /> <br /> Deal, N., J. Buchanan, K. Farrell-Poe, M. Gross, D. Gustafson, D. Kalen, B. Lesikar, D. Lindbo, G. Loomis, J. Mechell, R. Miles, and C. ONeill. 2007. Speaking the Same Language: A Glossary for the Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Field. ASABE Eleventh National Symposium on Individual and Small Community Sewage Systems, ASABE Publication Number 701p1107.<br /> <br /> Lesikar, B.J., N. Deal, J. Buchanan, K. Farrell-Poe, D. Gustafson, D. Kalen, D. Lindbo, G. Loomis, and R. Miles. 2007. Decentralized Wastewater Glossary. http://www.onsiteconsortium.org/files/GlossaryFinal_12-19-07pdf. 121 p. <br /> <br /> Miles, Randall J., Robert Rubin, and Larry T. West. 2007. Fecal Coliform Numbers Around Pressure Dosed Septic Tank Effluent Soil Trenches in Missouri and North Carolina. ASABE Eleventh National Symposium on Individual and Small Community Sewage Systems, ASABE Publication Number 701p1107.<br /> <br /> Motavalli, P.P., M.D. Patton, and R.J. Miles. 2007. Use of Web-Based Student Extension Publications to Improve Undergraduate Student Writing Skills. J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ. 36:95-102. <br /> <br /> Myers, D. Brenton, Newell Kitchen, Kenneth J. Sudduth, Robert A. Sharp, and Randall J. Miles. 2007. Soybean Root Distribution Related to Claypan Soil Properties and Apparent Soil Conductivity. Crop Sci. 47:1498-1509.<br /> <br /> Myers, David Brent. 2008. Methods of High-Resolution Soil Landscape Modeling in Midwest Upland Soils. Ph.D Dissertation.<br /> <br /> Myers, D.B., Kitchen, N.R., Sudduth, K.A., Grunwald, S., Miles, R.J. Miles, Sadler, E.J., and Udawatta, R. 2008. Combining Proximal and Penetrating Conductivity Sensors for High Resolution Soil Mapping. Inl. Proceedings of the First Global Workshop on High Resolution Digital Soil Sensing and Mapping, February 5-8, Sydney, Australia, 2008 CDROM<br /> <br /> <br /> Nebraska State Report <br /> Mason, J.A., Joeckel, R.M., and Bettis, E.A., 2007, Middle to Late Pleistocene loess record in eastern Nebraska, USA, and implications for the unique record of Oxygen Isotope Stage 2. Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 26, p. 773-792.<br /> Miao, X., Mason, J.A., Swinehart, J.B., Loope, D.B., Hanson, P.R., Goble, R.J., Liu, X., 2007, A 10,000-year record of dune activity, dust storms, and drought in the central Great Plains, Geology 35, 119-122.<br /> Rawling, J.E., Hanson, P.R., Young, A., 2007, Preliminary optical luminescence ages from eolian sand in the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin, Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip Guidebook Supplement<br /> <br /> North Dakota Report<br /> 2008<br /> <br /> Publications (2006-07): Peer-reviewed journal articles: 1; Abstracts: 2; Thesis: 1<br /> <br /> Doolittle J. A., B. Jenkinson, D. Hopkins, M.Ulmer, and W. Tuttle. 2006. Hydropedological investigations with ground-penetrating radar (GPR): Estimating water-table depths and local ground water flow pattern in areas of coarse-textured soils. Geoderma 131:317-329.<br /> <br /> Thomson, K. A., Hopkins, D. G., Steele, D. D. and M. E. Sharp. 2007. Soil Morphologic Investigations of the Devils Lake Water Utilization Test Project: GIS Applications. Electronic conference proceedings. Poster presentation at the Manitoba Soil Science Society Conference. Winnipeg. http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/news/msss/<br /> <br /> Sharp. M. 2007. Establishment of baseline soil salinity trends for the Devils Lake water utilization test project. MS thesis. North Dakota State University. Fargo<br /> <br /> Hopkins, D., Manz, L., Ulmer, M.,Benedict, P., Norvell, W., Grosz, A., and E. Jensen. 2007. Geochemical distribution of selected elements in north-central North Dakota generalized using soil survey SSURGO data. Poster for Minerals in Soil Landscapes symposium at the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, New Orleans, LA.<br /> <br /> <br /> South Dakota Report FY2008<br /> <br /> Peer-Reviewed<br /> Werkmeister, C.E., Malo, D.D., Schumacher, T.E., Doolittle, J.J., and Miller, G.C. 2007. Testing Durability of Acid Rock Passivation to Root System Activity within Greenhouse Columns. Proceedings of the 2007 National Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, Gillette, WY, 30 Years of SMCRA and Beyond June 2-7, 2007. R.I. <br /> <br /> Barnhisel (Ed.) publisher: ASMR, 3134 Montavesta Rd., Lexington, KY 40502.<br /> Papiernik, S. K., Lindstrom, M. J., Schumacher, T. E., Schumacher, J. A., Malo, D. D., and Lobb, D. A. 2007. Characterization of Soil Profiles in a Landscape Affected by Long-Term Tillage. Soil Tillage Research 93:335-345.<br /> <br /> Malo, D.D. 2008. Internet Sources of Basic Soils Information. In (Logsdon, S.D., D. Clay, D. Moore, and T. Tsegaye, Eds.) Soil science: A step-by-step analysis. SSSA, Madison, WI.<br /> <br /> Published Abstracts<br /> Werkmeister, C., Schumacher, T., Malo, D., and Doolittle. J. 2007. Aggregate Stability of Reclaimed Minesoils versus Native Soil. 2007 International ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Published Abstracts. New Orleans, LA, November 4-8, 2007. <br /> (http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2007am/techprogram/P37159.HTM).<br /> <br /> Kunze, B.O., Malo, D., and Werkmeister, C.E. 2007. Characterizing Soil Variability of a Research Farm Using Order 1 Soil Survey on Loess Covered Till Plain. 2007 International ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Published Abstracts. New Orleans, LA, November 4-8, 2007. (http://a-cs.confex.com/crops/2007am/techprogram/P36135.HTM).<br /> Malo, D.D. 2007. Web Soil Survey  A Search Engine for Modern Detailed Soil Survey Information. Plant Science/NCARL Seminar. Plant Science Department. South Dakota State University. http://media2.sdstate.edu/plantsci/Archive_20071116.wmv. <br /> <br /> Gilmanov, T.G., Meyers, T.P., Wylie, B.K., Smart, A.J., Detwiler, A.G., Malo, D., Heuer, M.W., Johnson, P.S., Brehe, K., and Zhang, L. 2007. Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in Grassland Ecosystems of South Dakota: Flux Tower Measurements, Modeling, GIS, and Remote Sensing. SD Academy of Science Published Abstracts.<br /> <br /> Teaching Publications/CDs<br /> Malo, D.D., Clay, D.E., and Reese, C.L.. 2007. Soils Laboratory Manual. 36th Edition. Plant Sci. Dept. SDSU. Brookings 57007-2141.<br /> <br /> Malo, D.D. 2007. Soils. 8th Edition. Plant Science Dept., SDSU, Brookings. 57007-2141.<br /> <br /> Malo, D., and C. Werkmeister. 2007. National NACTA Collegiate Soil Judging Contest Photos. Hutchinson, KS (April). Pedology CD 07-1. Plant Science Department. South Dakota State University. Brookings. 57007 -2141.<br /> <br /> Malo, D., and C. Werkmeister. 2007. Regional ASA Collegiate Soil Judging Contest Photos, Griswold, IA (October). Pedology CD 07-2. Plant Science Department. South Dakota State University. Brookings. 57007-2141.<br /> <br /> Malo, D.D., Blodgett, S., and V. Owens. 2007. SDSU Foundation Opportunities Farm, Lennox, SD Final Reports (ABS 475 Class). Pedology CD 07-3. Plant Science Department. South Dakota State University. Brookings. 57007-2141. <br /> <br /> Other Reports<br /> Malo. D.D. 2007. Felt Farm Initial Information. Plant Science Department. South Dakota State University. Brookings. SD. 57007-2141. Cooperative report with NRCS.<br /> <br /> Malo, D.D. 2007. Custom Soil Resource Report for Potential New Research Farm, Brookings, County, SD. Plant Science Department, South Dakota State University. Brookings. 57007-2141. Cooperative report with NRCS.<br />

Impact Statements

1. As a result of regional testing of the Iris Tubes, the NRCS is considering this technique to evaluate hydric/wetlands soil conditions
2. As a result of the NCERA-3 Committees persistent work on human impacted/eroded soils the NRCS has changed both the approach and the documentation of eroded soils for the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
3. As a result of presentations and discussion at the 2006 NCSS Conference (Medora, ND), the NRCS has reopened negotiations with the USGS to cooperate in a national geochemical landscape initiative. Two benchmark catena trace element studies were initiated in Indiana and Illinois to provide baseline data related to soil processes.
4. As a result of active NCERA-3 participation in Regional collegiate soil judging contests, NRCS views this activity as a critical recruiting event to encourage more students to participate in federal Soil Science and Soil Survey careers.
5. As a result of active support by NCERA-3 members and NRCS cooperation, the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit in Washington DC will open July 18, 2008 for 18 months with specific information on the benefits of no till and soil survey information. This exhibit will potentially introduce the field of Soil Science to over 1 million visitors a year.

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Report Information

Participants

See attached.

Brief Summary of Minutes

See attached.

Accomplishments

" Active involvement of the steering committee for the 2009 national soil survey<br /> conference.<br /> <br /> " K-12 activity, including FFA soil/land judging<br /> <br /> " Symposium organized for the 2009 SSSA meeting titled "Soil Carbon and Green House Gas Dynamics in Agricultural Land"<br /> <br /> " State data shared, incorporated in national database<br /> <br /> " Information described in state reports regarding soil carbon work: focus on sampling strategies, directed sampling for soil properties, and stratification by land use among other activities.

Publications

Armstrong, S.D., D.R. Smith, P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern and C. Williams. 2009. Manure<br /> spills in streams: current practices and remediation methods to minimize water quality<br /> degradation. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. In Press.<br /> <br /> Bowling, L.C., P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee and B.C. Joern. 2008. Watersheds and confined<br /> animal feeding operations. CAFO- ID 369.<br /> <br /> Burkhart, P.A., Rawling, J.E. III, Livingston, J., Hanson, P.R., Mahan, S., Benton, R.,<br /> Heffron, E., Jahn, M., Anderson, T., Page, B., 2008, Late Pleistocene through Holocene<br /> Landscape Evolution of the White River Badlands, South Dakota, in Raynolds, R.G., ed.,<br /> Roaming the Rocky Mountains and Environs: Geological Field Trips: Geological Society<br /> of America Field Guide 10, 235-248.<br /> <br /> Chen L., Ramsier, C., Bigham, J., Slater, B., Kost, D., Lee, Y., and. Dick, W. (2009)<br /> Oxidation of FGD-CaSO3 and effect on soil chemical properties when applied to the soil<br /> surface. Fuel 88: 11671172.<br /> <br /> Dillon, J.S., Hanson, P.R., Joeckel, R.M., Young, A.R., Kuzila, M.S., 2008, Surficial<br /> Geologic map of the Wynot 7.5-Minute Quadrangle,<br /> (http://snr.unl.edu/csd/information/statemap.asp)<br /> <br /> Dozier, W.A., M.T. Kidd, A. Corzo, P.R. Owens and S.L. Branton. 2008. Live<br /> performance and environmental impact of broiler chickens fed diets varying in amino<br /> acids and phytase. Animal Feed Science and Technology Journal. 141: 92-103.<br /> <br /> Franzmeier, D.P. and P.R. Owens. 2008. Quantitative evaluation of students estimate of<br /> soil texture. Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. 37:111-116.<br /> <br /> Hanson, P.R., Hooke, R. LeB., Kelley, A.R., 2008, Optically stimulated luminescence<br /> ages on sand dunes near Greenbush, Maine, in Hooke, R. LeB., Metcalfe, E., Wiesner,<br /> R., 2008, Surficial geology of the Greenbush Quadrangle, Maine. Maine Geological<br /> Survey Open File Report No. 08-47,<br /> (http://www.state.me.us/doc/nrimc/mgs/pubs/online/surficial/surficial.htm#)<br /> <br /> Hanson, P.R., Joeckel, R.M., Young, A.R., Horn, J., in press, Late Holocene Dune<br /> Activity in the Eastern Platte River Valley, Nebraska, Geomorphology<br /> <br /> Hanson, P.R., Young, A.R., 2008, Surficial Geologic map of the Silver Creek SE 7.5-<br /> Minute Quadrangle, (http://snr.unl.edu/csd/information/statemap.asp)<br /> <br /> Hart, K.S., B. D. Lee, P. S. Schoeneberger, D. P. Franzmeier, P. R. Owens and D.R.<br /> Smith. 2008. Comparison of field saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements to<br /> estimated morphological loading rates in Northeastern Indiana. Journal of Hydrologic<br /> Engineering. 13:8 665-670.<br /> <br /> Hewitt, A., McKenzie, N..J., Grundy M.J., Slater B.K. (2008). Qualitative survey. In<br /> Guidelines for surveying soil and land resources. 2nd Edition Australian Soil and Land<br /> Survey Handbook Volume 2. (Eds McKenzie N.J., Webster R., Grundy M.J., Ringrose-<br /> Voase A.J.) (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).<br /> <br /> Korus, J.T., Kvale, E.P., Eriksson, K.A., and Joeckel, R.M., 2008, Compound<br /> paleovalley fills in the Lower Pennsylvanian New River Formation, West Virginia, USA.<br /> Sedimentary Geology, v. 20, p. 15-26.<br /> <br /> Lee, B.D., P.R. Owens, L.C. Bowling and B.C. Joern. 2008. Considering soil properties<br /> when siting confined animal feeding operations. CAFO-ID 368.<br /> <br /> Lin, H.S., J. Bouma, P.R. Owens, and M. Vepraskas. 2008. Hydropedology: Fundamental<br /> issues and practical applications. Catena 73:151-152.<br /> Porter, T., P.R. Owens, B.D. Lee and G. Van Scoyoc. 2008. How soil and landform<br /> characteristics relate to landslide activity - a review. Soil Survey Horizons. 49:14-18<br /> <br /> Lindbo, David, Randy Miles, and DeAnn Presley. 2008. Principles of Site Evaluation. P<br /> 1-10. In Soil Science: Step-by-Step Analysis. Sally Logsdon, Dave Clay, Demie Moore,<br /> Teferi Tsegaye, editors. Soil Science Society of America. 677 Segoe Road, Madison, WI.<br /> <br /> Lindbo, David, Randy Miles, DeAnn Presley, and N.E. Ranson. 2008. Soil Profile<br /> Descriptions. P 11-34. In Soil Science: Step-by-Step Analysis. Sally Logsdon, Dave<br /> Clay, Demie Moore, Teferi Tsegaye, editors. Soil Science Society of America. 677 Segoe<br /> Road, Madison, WI.<br /> <br /> Mason, J.A., Miao, X., Hanson, P.R., Johnson, W.C., Jacobs, P.M., Goble, R.J., 2008,<br /> Loess record of the last Glacial-Interglacial transition on the northern and central Great<br /> Plains, Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 1772-1783.<br /> <br /> Miles, D.M., P.R. Owens, P.A. Moore, Jr. and D.E. Rowe. 2008. Instrumentation for<br /> evaluating differences in ammonia volatilization from broiler litter and cake. Journal of<br /> Applied Poultry Research. 17: 340-347.<br /> <br /> Miles, D. M., D.E. Rowe and P.R. Owens. 2008. Winter broiler litter gases and nitrogen<br /> compounds: temporal and spatial trends. Atmospheric Environment. 42:3351-3363.<br /> <br /> Mishra, U., Lal, R., Slater, B.K., Calhoun, F., Liu, D., and Van Meirvenne, M. (2009).<br /> Predicting Soil Organic Carbon Stock Using Profile Depth Distribution Functions and<br /> Ordinary Kriging. Soil Science Society of America Journal 73: 614-621.<br /> <br /> Morgan, M.L., Matthews, V., Gutierrez, F., Thorson, J.P., Madole, R.F., Hanson, P.R.,<br /> 2008, From buttes to bowls: Repeated relief inversions in the landscape of the Colorado<br /> Piedmont, in Raynolds, R.G., ed., Roaming the Rocky Mountains and Environs:<br /> Geological Field Trips: Geological Society of America Field Guide 10, 203-216.<br /> <br /> Myers, D.B., N.R. Kitchen, K.A. Sudduth, S. Grunwald, R.J. Miles, E.J. Sadler, and R.<br /> Udwatta. 2008. Combining Proximal and Penetrating Conductivity Sensors for High<br /> Resolution Soil Mapping, International Proceedings of the First Global Workshop in<br /> High Resolution Digital Soil Sensing and Mapping. February 5-8, Sydney, Australia.<br /> CDROM.<br /> <br /> Olson, K.R. and S A. Ebelhar. 2009. Impacts of conservation tillage systems on longterm<br /> crop yields. Journal of Agronomy 8(1):14-20.<br /> <br /> Olson, K.R., Gennadiyev, A.N., V. N. Golosov, 2008. Comparison of radioactive and<br /> magnetic tracer methods to assess soil erosion and deposition in Illinois landscapes. 2008.<br /> Soil Science 173:575-586.<br /> <br /> Owens, P.R., B.C. Joern, B.D. Lee and L.C. Bowling. 2008. Using Web Soil Survey to<br /> investigate potential confined animal feeding operation locations. CAFO- ID 367.<br /> <br /> Owens, P., B. Lee and B. Erickson. 2008. Web soil survey opens new options for<br /> utilizing soils information. Site-Specific Management Center Newsletter.<br /> http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/ssmc/Frames/SSMC_newsletter_7_2008.pdf<br /> <br /> Owens, P.R., L.P. Wilding, W.M. Miller and R.W. Griffin. 2008. Using iron metal rods<br /> to infer oxygen status in seasonally saturated soils. Catena 73:197-203.<br /> <br /> Presley, D.R., P.E. Hartley, and M.D. Ransom. In press. Mineralogy and morphological<br /> properties of buried polygenetic paleosols formed in Late Quaternary sediments on<br /> upland landscapes of the Central Plains, USA. Geoderma.<br /> <br /> Rawling, J.E., III, Hanson, P.R., Young, A.R., Attig, J.W., 2008, Late Pleistocene dune<br /> construction in the Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin, USA, Geomorphology 100, 494-<br /> 505.<br /> <br /> Schoeneberger, P., G. J. Kluitenberg, A. J. Heitman, and M. E. Buckley. 2008. A<br /> comparison of estimated and in-situ saturated hydraulic conductivity in Midwestern soils.<br /> p. 90. In Program and Abstracts, First International Conference on Hydropedology,<br /> University Park, PA. July 28-31, 2008. The Pennsylvania State University.<br /> Shroyer, J.P. and M.D. Ransom. 2008. Whats an extension specialist doing in the<br /> classroom or should an old dog lean new tricks? Agronomy Abstracts.<br /> <br /> Tirado-Corbala, R., Slater, B. K., Dick, W. A., and McCoy, E. L. 2008. A Lysimeter<br /> Study of Vadose Zone Porosity and Water Movement in Gypsum Amended Soil.<br /> Agronomy Abstracts<br /> <br /> Troesser, Steven J. and Randall J. Miles. 2009. Historic Sanborn Field: 2008 Growing<br /> Season. P 6-13. Missouri Soil Fertility and Fertilizers Update. Agronomy Miscellaneous<br /> Publication #09-01. #740-13 ASA, Madison, WI.<br /> <br /> Using Terrain Attributes to Develop Management Zones for Potassium Fertility. 2008.<br /> H.E. Winzeler, P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern, J.J. Camberato, B.D. Lee, D.R. Smith, and B.J.<br /> Erickson. Site Specific Management Center Newsletter.<br /> http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/ssmc/Frames/SSMCNewsletter4_2008.pdf<br /> <br /> West, L. T., P. A. Schoeneberger, and G. J. Kluitenberg. 2008. The U.S. National<br /> Cooperative Soil Survey and hydropedology research. p. 102. In Program and Abstracts,<br /> First International Conference on Hydropedology, University Park, PA. July 28-31,<br /> 2008. The Pennsylvania State University.<br /> <br /> West, L., P. J. Schoeneberger, G. J. Kluitenberg, and D. E. Radcliffe. 2008. Saturated<br /> hydraulic conductivity: Relation to horizon properties and assessment of estimation<br /> methods. p. 103. In Program and Abstracts, First International Conference on<br /> Hydropedology, University Park, PA. July 28-31, 2008. The Pennsylvania State<br /> University.<br /> <br /> Winzeler, H.E., P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern, J.J. Camberato, B.D. Lee, D.E. Anderson and<br /> D.R. Smith. 2008. Potassium fertility and terrain attributes in a Fragiudalf drainage<br /> catena. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 72: 1311-1320.<br /> <br /> Winzeler, H.E., P.R. Owens, B.C. Joern, J.J. Camberato, B.D. Lee, D.R. Smith, and B.J.<br /> Erickson. 2008. Using terrain attributes to develop management zones for potassium<br /> fertility. Site Specific Management Center Newsletter.<br /> http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/ssmc/Frames/SSMCNewsletter4_2008.pdf

Impact Statements

1. Two benchmark catena trace element studies were initiated in Indiana and Illinois to provide baseline data related to soil processes. Conducted educational survey of regional universities related to training of soil scientist. This help focus attention on the declining soil student numbers, the loss of soil science curriculum, and reduced numbers of soil faculty teaching at regional universities.
2. As a result of active NCERA-3 participation from 2004 to 2009 in Regional collegiate soil judging contests, NRCS views this activity as a critical recruiting event to encourage more students to participate in federal Soil Science and Soil Survey careers.
3. As a result of active support by NCERA-3 members and NRCS cooperation, the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit in Washington DC opened July 18, 2008 for 18 months with specific information on the benefits of no-till and soil survey information. This exhibit will potentially introduce the field of Soil Science to over 1 million visitors a year.
4. Co-sponsored and co-organized a High Intensity Soils symposium at 2006 SSSA meeting. National and regional soil survey conferences have addressed the need for high intensity soil surveys.
5. NCERA-3 members suggested to NRCS that the state soil characterization data bases, which existed as paper files at many of the member institutions, be electronically stored and added to the National Soil Pedon data base. The goal is to double the size of the National Pedon Data Base by adding approximately 30,000 pedons from the state university laboratories in the next few years. This National Pedon Data Base will provide the baseline data to support the soil and land use interpretations and recommendations being made in county soil survey reports and by cooperative soil survey scientists and mappers working on detailed or site specific soil surveys. See Minutes for more.
6. The NCERA-3 committee is a sponsor and co-organizer of the upcoming Soil Carbon and Green House Gas Dynamics in Agricultural Land symposium at an upcoming ASASSSA meeting (in Pittsburgh, PA on November 3, 2009). A total of 60 abstracts, including some from NCERA-3 members, were submitted for the oral and topic poster sessions. The conference will help provide information that policy makers can use as they better understand soil carbon sequestration and/or soil carbon loss and green house gas emissions and/or storage as a result the use and management of agricultural land and as they attempt to develop a cap and trade soil carbon credit program.

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