News Release

January 14, 2020 – Many states have a designated state bird, flower, fish, tree, rock, etc. And, many states also have a state soil – one that has significance or is important to the state. The San Joaquin is the official state soil of California. The Soil Science Society of America’s (SSSA) January 14^th Soils Matter blog explores how the San Joaquin is important to California and even the entire world.

San Joaquin soil is not the best soil to produce crops. However, with proper management, this soil has produced many billions of dollars of agricultural wealth for California’s economy. San Joaquin soils today support growth of an abundant variety of irrigated crops including almonds, pistachios, figs, grapes, oranges and wheat.

California’s state soil can be found along the east side of the San Joaquin and lower Sacramento Valleys. Knowledge of the San Joaquin soil's properties and characteristics has become increasingly important in suburban and urban development. Population centers, such as the city of Fresno, have expanded into areas of San Joaquin soil.

To learn more about the California state soil, read the entire post here: https://soilsmatter.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/what-is-the-california-state-soil.  

Follow SSSA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SSSA.soils, Twitter at SSSA_Soils. SSSA has soils information on www.soils.org/discover-soils, for teachers at www.soils4teachers.org, and for students through 12^th grade, www.soils4kids.org.