When I talked to Dr. Joey Shaw of Auburn University he introduced me to something called soil judging. I had no idea what this was and the conversation that followed was fascinating. Soil judging is the field component of soil science. Soil judging's purpose is to help make you aware of and understand some common characteristics that affect uses of the soil, and how some land uses may be considered better than others based on soil features. Dr. Shaw is the "coach" of Auburn's soil judging team and they are very successful. They have traveled all around the country judging different types of soil. There are massive holes in the ground with a couple of feet of soil exposed. The team has a matter of days to test the soil for various components. Physical features, limitations, and important farmland. The physical features include the surface layer, subsoil layer, and the substratum layer. The surface layer contains the largest amount of organic matter and is usually a dark brown color. The subsoil layer starts at the bottom of the surface layer and generally is 12 to 24 inches in thickness. It is a layer in which organic matter, nutrients, and chemicals that have leached down into the soil from the surface layer accumulate. The substratum layer is the least nutrient dense layer and usually have a large amount of the parent material in it. Soil judging is a very difficult task and is very important to determine the viability and farm-ability of the soil.
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