Discover Your State Soil

You might know your state's flower, tree, or bird--but did you know that every state also has a state soil?

Click here and select your state (or territory) to learn more about your state soil! Here are some spotlights from some of the top states for SoilKit users:

North Carolina's Cecil soil. You can see why it's considered part of the Georgia Red Clay! Photos courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

North Carolina: Cecil soil (see image left). Although it's the state soil of North Carolina, Cecil soil covers 10 million acres across the Piedmont region of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. This red clay soil was historically covered by forests, and today its main usages are for agronomic crops (mainly wheat, soybean, and corn), pasture, and pine plantations.

Colorado: Seitz soil. The Seitz soil is found covering 350,000 mountainous acres in southwestern and central CO. This soil contains a lot of gravel and can be found on steep slopes, so it is considered useful for forestry and outdoor recreation.

Florida's Myakka soil. Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Texas: Houston Black soil. This is a dark, sticky, clay soil that swells when wet, then shrinks and cracks when dry. Houston Black soils cover 1.5 million acres in eastern to central TX, which were historically prairies. Today, this soil is still very productive for agriculture, especially cotton, sorghum, and corn, due to its high organic matter content from decomposing prairie grasses.

Florida: Myakka soil (see image right). This soil is unique to FL, where it is the most extensive soil in the state, covering more than 1.5 million acres. Most Myakka soil is found in flat, forested areas that are a source of timber and home to wildlife. They can be used for agriculture with proper managment, but this comes with the challenges of low fertility, high sand content, and a high water table.

New York: Honeoye soil. Honeoye covers around 500,000 acres mostly in western and central NY. It's famous for supporting orchards (apples, cherries, and more!), vineyards and wineries, dairy farms, and other crops as one of the most productive soils in the state.