Over the next several days, teams from Purdue, Virginia Tech, Iowa State – 21 universities in all, will descend upon Central Oregon soil (literally) for the 51st National Soil Judging Contest.  Nearly 200 soil science students will visit 36 soil pits around Central Oregon to assess the earth in each, and hopefully record the exact makeup of the soil samples, before competing in individual and team contests.

For the last several months, Oregon State University - Cascades Associate Professor Ron Reuter, known as “Dr. Dirt,” and OSU’s Senior Faculty Research Assistant Will Austin and Associate Professor Jay Noller have been preparing for the annual competition which runs April 26-30, 2011.  Preparations involved finding locations in Central Oregon for pits that would unearth a challenging variety of soil layers – and then digging chin-deep and car-size pits.

As the competition gets underway, students teams will step into the practice pits, the locations of which are not disclosed in advance, and each will have less than an hour to classify the soil and determine the number of soil layers, where they begin, the precise color of each, the texture (sandy clay, loamy sand, clay loam or silt loam) and the structure.  Soils are classified much like plants, within a hierarchical system.  Sometimes students will need to look above ground for clues to what is beneath it.  Often, spraying water on the wall of the pit will help create a contrast between layers.  The students will use knives to pick at the layers, sometimes rolling the soil into balls to determine the texture.  It can be a challenging task.  Of the 12 soil orders found in the U.S., Oregon has 10.  As for soil series, there are more than 3,200 of them in Oregon.   After three days of digging in the dirt and familiarizing themselves with idiosyncrasies of Oregon soil, the students will be ready for the actual competition which takes place on April 29 and 30. 

As to the importance of knowing what is beneath our feet, to a soil scientist it’s essential.  Questions like “Can you grow crops in it?”, “Can you build a house on it?”, and “Can you bury a septic tank in it?” can only be answered if the soil is fully understood.

In addition to partaking in soil analysis, students will also hear from geologist Dr. Scott Burns, Chair of  the Department of Geology at Portland State University and Oregon Natural Resources Conservation Service soil scientist, Cory Owens.  For more information, visit http://people.oregonstate.edu/~reuterr/NCSJC/.