Want to build a barn, dig a lagoon, install a septic system, or start irrigating specialty crops? You’d better know what kinds of soil you’re dealing with or your project may quickly turn out to be an anchor around your neck. The quickest way of finding out about the soils in an area is to consult a soil survey.
Soil surveys provide information about the soils in a given area. Soil properties such as texture, drainage, slope, depth to water table, stoniness, and soil suitability for purposes such as agriculture and construction are laid out in the soil survey. Manitoba has soil surveys dating back to the 1940s and there are still soil surveys going on in the province today.
The reference work for carrying out soil surveys is A Soil Mapping System for Canada: Revised. There are a wide range of Survey Intensity Levels to provide different kinds of details for different purposes. If you compare these to road maps, an overview map of Canada hides a lot of details but is very useful fro getting from Vancouver to Toronto quickly. When you want to find an address in Steinbach, a much more detailed map is needed.
The most detailed Survey Intensity Level is a 1:5,000 mapping, which provides you with a very detailed description of a farm. All soils groups are to be inspected. The land is traversed at intervals of less than 500m. It would take a surveyor about one month to cover 2,500 acres. This level of mapping is used for subdivisions or conservation areas.
A lot of municipalities and larger farm projects use a 1:20,000 to 1:50,000 mapping. Most of the soils groups will be inspected. The land is traversed at intervals of 2-4 km. It would take a surveyor about one month to cover 7,500 to 25,000 acres. This level of mapping is used for municipal planning and larger farm operations.
Most of agricultural Manitoba is covered by 1:125,000 mapping. Soil boundaries are largely determined from air photos as opposed to ground-truthing of the areas. This level is not terribly useful on a farm scale but can be useful for large-scale planning.
If you would like to see what level of detail is available in your area of Manitoba, check out Canada – Manitoba Soil Survey Index. The first PDF lists the reconnaissance (large scale) surveys. The second PDF provides a map of the more detailed soil surveys in Manitoba. CanSIS has most of the soil survey reports for Manitoba if you want to read the full text of an area’s report.
I do a fair amount of work using soil survey reports, particularly when I’m assessing the land around a proposed barn or irrigation site. If you’d like information on the soils in your area presented to you in a way that works for you, give us a call!
Post a Comment