My wife and I are moving our small farm to the Lafayette area soon. I have been spoiled by 2 ponds and plentiful water here in NC - if I dig a post hole, it fills up halfway with water and stays there. Indiana soils are an unknown for me.
The place we are likely buying has a nice creek flowing through it, but no ponds. Several acres are in the floodplain of the creek. The house and several acres are on the top of a nice flat-topped hill.
The county GIS shows soil types Ce, Gn, Su, HeF, and CbA on the property. I have no idea what any of this means. I am guessing that the county will say no to any pond in the floodplain, but that is just a guess.
Does anyone have any clue or past experience digging ponds in the area? I can dig it myself no problem as long as it is relatively small, but if it gets beyond a half acre or requires a clay liner, then that is beyond my capability. Any feedback from y'all would be much appreciated. Thanks!
There are a wide variety of soils in the Lafayette area.
However, none of the soil series symbols you posted (Ce, Gn, Su, HeF, and CbA) appear to exist in the Tippecanoe County Soil Survey. Are you certain you have the correct data for your tract?
These symbols can/may apply to more than one soil series in the state, this makes it difficult to answer your question. I'm on the other side of the state, in my area Ce is Celina (approx 24" to seasonal high water table an approx 48" to compact glacial till), Gn might be Gennesse (a well drained floodplain soil), and HeF (is likely a Hennepin on 25-35% slopes, steep well drained, shallow and eroded). This may not apply to your site.
Again, double check to see what soils are mapped on your tract, as none of those you've listed appear to be in Tippecanoe County in either the printed or online soil surveys.
I would Google NRCS for Tippecanoe County and ask them what it means.
FWIW in Illinois, I was allowed to build a pond in the flood plain as long as I did not put in an embankment more than 1 foot above original grade.
GO PURDUE!!!!
Was the team named after the drink or the other way around?
Bill, thanks for the tip on checking the NRCS site. The place we are looking at is actually in Clinton County, and I found a PDF file for the soil survey, which matches the soil map I had found before on the County GIS site. It was helpful because the soil survey describes each of the soil types. It doesn't specifically say if any of them are or are not suited to pond construction, but it does address how well they drain.
I think when we move I'll try to have someone from NRCS look at the map with me and give me some advice. Thanks guys!
And, Bob-O, a boilermaker actually is a person who builds steam engines. This knowledge made it easier to convince our six year-old that the move was a good idea, as he is a huge fan of all kinds of trains.
Welcome to Indiana! What type of farming do you do?
Shows what I know ....or don't.
Well, we both have full-time jobs off the farm, but we are building a herd of meat lambs, and we do a big batch of broiler chickens every year for our own meat.
I'm hoping to expand quite a bit when I retire in a few years, so I can supplement my pension. Thanks for the welcome, RAH. After a 23-year absence, I look forward to returning to the Midwest. There is a lot about the "Midwestern Sensibility" that I have truly missed.
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/indiana/IN023/0/clinton.pdfStarting on pg 11 you will find details of the map units you've listed. You will find the soils are either well drained or floodplain soil types.
See pg 125 for info about suitability for ponds. (Note: all the series you've listed have issues with locating a pond).
We moved to Indiana 26 years ago and my wife has raised vegetables and sold them at farmer's markets during that time. Best of luck getting settled.
CW, thanks for pointing out that section of the survey. I completely missed it on my first look. From what it says there, though, the Su soils may be suitable for a pond. Either way I need to talk to someone from the NRCS once we are settled in. I had a feeling that pond building may be a tall order. I was hoping that the lack of ponds up there was due to land being too valuable for farming row crops, but I had a sneaky feeling the loamy soils were unsuitable for holding water. Looks like if my section of Su doesn't work, I'll have to do some aquaponics if I want fish.