New NRCS Employees Receive Soils Training

Some of the primary goals of the NRCS have included providing leadership to private landowners and managers to facilitate conservation of soil, water, and other natural resources and to provide technical assistance geared toward the specific needs of customers. Since soil is the foundation for everything we do – from constructing buildings and roads to growing materials for food and clothes – it is essential that NRCS employees have a basic understanding of soils.

Twenty years ago new hires with the agency were expected to spend up to six months shadowing a soil scientist, but with soil scientists no longer located in or nearby most counties, opportunities for soils training are now much more limited. The NRCS Kerrville Soil Survey office, along with NRCS Resource Soil Scientist Rusty Dowell, has been working hard to fill in the training gap. Newer employees have the opportunity to shadow a soil scientist in the field for a day. “The best soils training an employee can get is by spending field time with a mapping soil scientist. The employee can see how soil surveys are made, that areas of soil are not uniform but rather are mixtures of similar and dissimilar soils, and how soils relate to changes in landscape and geology,” says Dowell.

Mason County, with an ongoing soil survey, has been utilized as a soils training ground; currently a total of 12 employees from the area have received soils training in Mason. “The diverse geology and soils of the area make Mason County an excellent training location. Soils vary from acidic to basic, clayey to sandy, very shallow to very deep, dark to light colored topsoil, and soil colors include shades of brown, grey, yellow, red, and white,” says Dowell.

Employees with knowledge of soils are better equipped in their efforts to convey the importance of soil conservation to farmers and ranchers. They are also more prepared to tackle possible future initiatives.

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(left to right) Bryon Lorenz, NRCS soil scientist from Graham, B.J. Lange, NRCS range specialist from Fredericksburg, and Kegan Crouch, NRCS student trainee, look at soils in Mason County.

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