Outer Bluegrasss

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inyati13

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Kentucky, Outer Bluegrass
The Inner Bluegrass of Kentucky is renowned for its Racehorse farms and fine soil. When the settlers came to Kentucky, there were no mineral supplements but the soils are naturally high in minerals like calcium and trace minerals which produced the Kentucky Thoroughbred Horses. Surrounding the Inner Bluegrass is the Outer Bluegrass Physiographic Region of Kentucky where I am located. The physiography here at the farm is vastly different from the rolling land of the Bluegrass but the soils have the same geologic origins – Ordovician Limestone.

The Ordovician is a geologic period that covers the time between 485.4 and 443.8 million years ago. It was a period before the rise of vertebrates. The primordial seas that covered what is now my farm were teeming with life. Many of those organisms had exoskeletons made of minerals mostly calcium carbonate. As they died, their remains accumulated on the sea floor. But more importantly, the minerals suspended in solution precipitated out and along with the remains of the sea life, formed massive deposits of mineral rich detritus. Over millions of years of geologic time, the pressure of the accumulated detritus formed limestone. The limestone in the Inner and Outer Bluegrass of Kentucky is very rich. Phosphorous is naturally high in our soils. It is a waste to use it as a component in fertilizer.

The formations of rock that constitute the Ordovician formation have been uplifted and eroded. The weathering and erosion of the exposed limestone has created our soils. Properly managed, our soils are very productive. The forage communities are very diverse. I have had people from other areas comment to me that you cannot produce cattle as well conditioned as mine just on grass pasture. I don't believe that. It is not just on my farm. Cattle that are properly managed in this area are all well conditioned on grass pasture alone.

What life would look like in the Ordovician seas.

308k2ds.jpg
 
Kinda like that here. An ancient shallow sea once covered my area, and because of it, I don't have the lime deficiency problems most areas of the more hilly East Texas has. Pine trees grow here, but not nearly as well as other places in E Texas an West La.(I have other problems--organic material leaches out due to frequent flood waters and heavy rains)
 
littletom":9i6iom4i said:
What soil types do you have on your farm? Crider?

There are several sets of criteria for describing soil. I will respond based on the classification that includes Crideric soils.

Kentucky has three soil types. In this part of the Outer Bluegrass, we have Baxter soils. Most farming including hay and tobacco was done on the ridges. It takes a good size river to provide "bottom land", i.e., the Licking River. Our complete soil profile is deep. Average over 100 inches on the ridges. I have excavated 6 feet deep without encountering a rock. On the slopes, there are rocks because erosion brings up parent material. In the outer Bluegrass, the Ordovician Formation includes siltstone and claystone, in addition to the predominant limestone strata. That results in a clay base originating from a mix of the parent material. Some of the limestones contain a clay matrix. The inner Bluegrass has a higher lime content but the total profile is more shallow. Driving through Lexington area you will observe limestone outcrops. Interesting: depositional environments have been reconstructed for every stratigraphic series, formation and unit. That geologic environment is reflected today in the soil. The science of Paleoecology can tell us a lot about the soil, where to find minerals, coal, and oil.

Baxter Series

Look for this type of soil mainly on the tops of ridges and hillsides; Baxter soil can also be found on steep slopes or woodland areas. It can be as deep as 99 inches from the surface once it is identified. The topsoil is made of a fine, gravel loam and clay. Identify the subsoil by the red, sticky, gravel-like clay composition. Identify lower subsoil by the dark red and light grey clay color. The topsoil has a gravelly feel to it while the subsoil is firm, sticky and pliable. The undersoil has a gravelly clay feel to it. Look for grains, tobacco, fruits and vegetables to be grown in this type of soil.

Crider Series

Travel along the western and central areas of Kentucky to find this soil type. Crider soil covers one half million acres over 35 counties in the state. This is the official state soil of Kentucky. Identify this soil type by the reddish-brown colored silt and dark red clay within the upper to middle sections of the soil. Crider soil can be found to a depth of 100 inches below the topsoil. Alfisol soil is another name for Crider soil. Look for this soil to be used in pasture land and growing soybeans, grains, tobacco and corn.

Maury Series

Find this soil in the upland areas of the state. Identify the composition by the red-brown color on top, to a yellow-red color in the lower subsurface. The texture crumbles easily, and ranges from a silt loam upper soil to a grainy subsoil to a firm iron-manganese in the lower subsoil. Find this soil to 100 inches from the upper soil to the bedrock. Look for this soil type to be used in cultivation of trees such as black cherry and walnut, ash and elm; this soil is also used to grow coffee and hackberry.


Edit: that reference to "coffee" is misleading. That is the Kentucky Coffee Tree. Not the tropical coffee tree.

The Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to the Midwest and Upper South of North America
 
Crider and Pembroke are my favorite in my neighbor hood. I do have one field of burley on baxter that is pretty good, just hate fighting the rocks and its not real forgiving on timing. Dickson isn't bad just takes a little longer to dry out and don't work well with no till. If you are really into dirt in ky websoil survey is awesome. Beats the heck out of that book when cropping, buying or leasing dirt.
 

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