Why is soil texture important?
Soil texture is one of the most important properties to know how to measure, as it affects many other chemical, physical, and biological soil processes and properties such as the available water-holding capacity, water movement though the soil, soil strength, how easily pollutants can leach into groundwater, and the natural soil fertility. Follow the Soil Texture Pathway to figure out a given soil's texture: Estimating Soil Texture by Feel
By knowing the texture of the soil and the depth of topsoil, a producer can estimate the amount of water available to produce a crop. If the soil texture is sand, then it can hold between 0.5 and 1.0 inch of water per foot of soil depth. If a producer had four foot of topsoil, there is 2 to 4 inches of water available for the crops use. If the soil texture is sandy loam, there is 1.0 to 1.5 inches of available water per foot of topsoil. If the soil texture is silt or a clay loam, there is 1.5 to 2.0 inches of available water per foot of topsoil. If the soil texture is clay, there is 2.0 to 2.5 inches of available water per foot of topsoil.
| Degree of Soil Moisture | Percent Useful Soil Moisture Remaining | Feel or Appearance of Soils | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coarse (Sand) | Light (Sandy Loams) | Medium (Silt and Clay Loams) | Heavy (Clay) | ||
Dry | 0 | Dry, loose, single-grained, flows through fingers. | Dry, loose, flows through fingers. | Powdery, dry, sometimes slightly crusted but easily breaks down into powdery condition. | Hard, baked, cracked; sometimes has loose crumbs on surface. |
Low | 50% or less | Still appears to be dry; will not form a ball with pressure.* | Still appears to be dry; will not form a ball.* | Somewhat crumbly, but will hold together from pressure.* | Somewhat pliable; will ball under pressure.* |
Fair | 50 to 75% | Still appears to be dry; will not form a ball with pressure.* | Tends to ball under pressure but seldom will hold together. | Forms a ball, somewhat plastic; will sometimes slick slightly with pressure. | Forms a ball; will ribbon out between thumb and forefinger. |
Excellent | 75% to | Tends to stick together slightly; sometimes forms a very weak ball under pressure. | Forms weak ball, breaks easily, will not slick. | Forms a ball and is very pliable; slicks readily if relatively high in clay. | Easily ribbons out between fingers, has a slick feeling. |
Ideal | At field | Upon squeezing, no free water appears on soil but wet outline of ball is left on hand. | Upon squeezing, no free water appears on soil but wet outline of ball is left on hand. | Upon squeezing, no free water appears on soil but wet outline of ball is left on hand. | Upon squeezing, no free water appears on soil but wet outline of ball is left on hand. |
Too Wet | Above field | Free water appears when soil is bounced in hand. | Free water will be released with kneading. | Can squeeze out free water. | Puddles and free water forms on surface. |
Now figure out the soil moisture holding capacity of your soil by feeling it again with the USDA Picture Guidelines
https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/wntsc/waterMgt/irrigation/EstimatingSoilMoisture.pdf