Evaluating Soil Characteristics in Relationship to Flooding across Western Kentucky

Evaluating Soil Characteristics in Relationship to Flooding across Western Kentucky Angel Moralez, Hunter Rudolph, Dr. Iin P. Handayani, Caleb Unverfehrt Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, United States Abstract Flooding is a major disaster when it comes to cropland management with the boom of monoculture and the implementation of single-crop systems in today's world. There are not many remedies or recovery programs for the modern-day farmer, which can mean the difference between a good year and a detrimental one for the farmer. The different soil properties that were analyzed are soil compaction, soil organic matter, soil pH, soil organic carbon, porosity, and bulk density. These properties were examined in various fields across Western Kentucky. The soil samples were taken with 2 replications within one site of the field. The replication was in two different depths of 0-7.5 centimeters (cm) being the first sample and 7.5-15 cm being the second sample. The study findings were that the Hutson Waterway had the highest compaction levels which were at 350-400 pounds per square inch (psi). While the bottoms had the lowest compaction rate which was (200-270 psi). Another significant difference is that the soil organic matter in the bottom ground fields had 2% organic matter which may be influenced by the amount of standing water. Bulk density was the lowest in the Hutson Waterway (1.2 g/cm^3) compared to all other fields. The graveyard had the lowest soil pH (5.8) while the Hutson Waterway had a near neutral pH (7.1). The data collected can be used by farmers to better manage fields that are susceptible to flooding. Keywords: Bulk Density, Compaction, Soil management, Soil Organic Matter, Soil pH