preview

Antigo Silt Loam

Decent Essays

Many states have a selected state flower, tree, rock, bird, insect, wildlife animal, etc. The list continues for state symbols, but I have selected the state soil. Wisconsin is fortunate to call Antigo Silt Loam the official state soil because its significance and importance it brings to the state. Francis D. Hole was a soil science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and he stressed the importance of making it the official soil of Wisconsin. Antigo Silt Loam became the official state soil of Wisconsin in 1983, by the State Legislature. They wanted to remind us how important soil is to the development of the state. The soil is mostly known in Wisconsin for the characteristics of being productive, well-drained, and a soil with a …show more content…

As we learned throughout the semester, northern Wisconsin was known for the vastness of hardwood forests. The forest contributed organic matter which contributed to the development of Antigo Silt Loam. It is the most extensive soil in Wisconsin and covers 300,000 acres within the northern part of the State. Areas where the land has been cleared for farming remain very productive and nutrient rich that allows for Wisconsin agricultural products to flourish. From the glacier movement into Wisconsin, the flat landscape makes this a fantastic soil for growing crops. In the Yi-Fu Tuan article it states, “Location also a factor in the state’s restrained topography. At one time or another during the last million years, much of Wisconsin lay in the path of continental ice sheets, which dampened vertical topographic differences by removing the obtruding heights and filling up the valleys.” The typical …show more content…

I discussed early in the essay about the productiveness of the soil and its contribution to many crops in Wisconsin. I strongly feel Antigo Silt Loam is a big contributor to the successfulness of agricultural crops and the entire agriculture sector. “The reputation of the heartland for all-Americanism has another basis—fertile soil and productive agriculture.” As the glaciers came down from Lake Superior they collected material along the way and carried it throughout Wisconsin. When the glaciers started melting 11,000 years ago they left behind the mineral debris while they were forming. Sand and gravel were the two main minerals that contributed to the development of Antigo Silt Loam after the melting of the glaciers took place. “And the core of North America is exceptionally fertile, thanks in large part to deposits laid down by continental ice sheets and their meltwaters. Agriculture, since the founding of the republic, has not been just food production but also a mythic way of life, idealized and romanticized over.” A layer of clay and silt blew over the exposed land surface topping off the sandy horizon. Strong winds deposited feet of silty loess and loamy outwash on top of the sand and gravel. When the soil started to develop under the northern hardwood forest, it produced a layer of organic material and a clay enriched

Get Access