The Cooperative Soil Survey's principal goal is the development, maintenance and application of reliable soil resource information. The value of soil survey information is especially important as we deal with issues such as surface and groundwater quality, crop production efficiency and farm profitability, soil and water conservation, and urban and suburban development. It is the foundation for all land use planning decisions and is required by state law to determine land value and taxation. Current soil survey activities include:
Systematic update of the state’s oldest soil surveys to raise their quality to current standards of scale, correlation, and interpretation
Digitization of soil surveys to facilitate their application to current computer technologies
Technical services applying soil survey information to practical problems of land resource utilization
Outreach programs to provide soil survey training to local units of government and private vendors to encourage broader utilization of soils information
Public awareness programs to familiarize individuals with information available from the soil survey
Support for private sector initiatives such as the Certified Crop Advisor program
Currently, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Iowa State University Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station at Iowa State University and counties partner in supporting the Iowa Cooperative Soil Survey Program.
