Missouri Association of Professional Soil Scientists

To Advance The Knowledge And Wise Use Of Our Soil Resources

Well folks, the time is rapidly approaching for our Fall MAPSS meeting. The ramrods this year are Wyn Kelley, Tony Dohman, Dean Martin, Greg Caldwell and a whole lot of other people. The location is Jefferson City and the days are October 24 and 25. Here is the agenda.

Friday - October 24th - MDNR Building

Looks like it is going to be another "outstanding, good time for one and all", so plan to attend.

MAPSS Certification Committee is interested in finding out how many MAPSS members would be interested in having the next certification testing held in the St. Louis area. If you are interested please contact any MAPSS officer.

Beginning in 1998, applicants for SSSA certification as a Certified Professional Soil Scientist or Soil Classifier will have to take an examination. So, if you are interested in this, submit your credentials )efore December 31, 1997. Ask your MAPSS President for more information.

Thanks to Ken Vogt, retired NRCS Soil Scientist, now living in Savannah, Missouri. As a self acknowledged old timer, he has solved the riddle of where the article "On a Strange Religion", published in the last issue of the Probauger came from. It was originally published in the Summer 1963 (Vol. 4, no. 2) of Soil Survey Horizons and was authored by Clay Stephens, range conservationist, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Blackfeet Reservation, Cutbank, Montana. We do appreciate this information and want to give credit where credit is due. Also Ken has promised to author an article for the Probauger on the soil consulting that he has been doing in northwest Missouri in the near future.
- JP -

MAPSS's newest Lifetime Member is Dr. Vernon Renner. Thanks Doc.

Our newest MAPSS member is Robert Magai, MDNR employee from Columbia, Missouri.

The 1997 MAPSS Summer Meeting was held on July 25 & 26 at the Huzzah Valley Resort near Steelville. Those in attendance were Mike Cook, Dave Skaer, Dennis Meinert, Scott Larsen, John Fraga, Tony Dohman, Robert Magai, Grant Butler and his two sons, Scott Eversoll, Ken Benham, Dr. and Mrs. Vernon Renner, Richard Tummons and his nephew. Robert Rouse, Sid Vander Veen and John Preston.

An excellent meal was funded by MAPSS and catered by the Sullivan Soil Survey Office. The huge T-bones were cooked to order and served with all the trimmings. Everything was great. The only comment that was even slightly less than positive was that the "baked beans with character", although very tasty, seemed to bring out an extra layer of sweat on the forehead in addition to the layer that was already present from the approximate 100 degree temperature. We also hope that John Fraga's dogs didn't choke to death or founder from all the bones that he collected for them.

The float trip was deleted from the agenda due to low water and high temperatures, although a splashing contest was held on Friday night in Huzzah Creek. As promised, no boring speeches or presentations were made, although our President, Robert Rouse, attempted to have a business meeting, but was shouted down (nice try Robert). Much socializing was the only order of business, and a good time was had by all. Topics expounded on during the evening included job possibilities, shooting, fishing, deer hunting, quail hunting, elk hunting, car and truck repair and rebuilding, on sites, GIS, soil micro-organisms, MOFEP, floating, future of the DNR soil scientists, Aridisols, cholesterol levels, are you having a baby or not?, 1998 NRCS budget, the "good ole days", and old-timers. And these were just the ones I overheard and/or participated in. Once again, those of you who chose not to attend, missed out big time.

Thanks is to be given to the members of the Sullivan Soil Survey Crew, Mike Cook, Dave Skaer, Scott Larsen and John Fraga, who helped out the "volunteered" chairperson, Dennis Meinert, to make the preparations for the get-together. It was a good place, good food, and a good time.

Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all.
- Charles Babbage -

Numbers are like people, torture them enough and they will tell you anything.

50% of the citizens of this country have a below average understanding of statistics.

If there is a 50-50 chance that something will go wrong, then 9 times out of 10 it will.
- Paul Harvey, 1979 -

82.8% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Phe following article is a reprint from an article written by Martin D. Openshaw, Director of ARCPACS, that appeared in the Autumn, 1981, issue of he PROBAUGER, courtesy of the Kansas Association of Professional Soil ~lassifiers, and was retrieved from the archives of Dave Skaer.

The question is asked by many professional agronomists, crop Scientists and soil scientists. Possibly you have been asked the same question: "What's in it for me?" Have you heard people say,".. .you are a what? An Agronomist? What is that?" The problem is they do not ~nderstand that agronomists have been feeding the world for centuries. As ~ard as it is to believe, outside of agriculture circles, our professional Lmage is lacking.

Certification is a means of recognizing our trained professional who ~egularly strive to maintain their professional competence and identity. rt can help promote our profession. As you become certified, it says to he world, the public and non-agronomist that agronomy is an important ),rofession and has standards. It also indicates that its professionals hick enough of their profession to conduct and submit to a peer review and ~aluation. Certification of agronomists also indicates that only highly rained and skilled individuals practice in our profession. Aren't you one ~f those individuals?

Being certified may not immediately put more money into your pockets, ~omeday, it might h~lp you compete for an agronomic position that have been ~1evated in grade and pay because it is a "highly professional position". ~s an example, and academic professional who asks how certification helps ~r benefits himself may not recognize the importance of certification. He ~robably is correct in assuming that today it may not personally affect um. However, he may be more interested in certification if it directly ~ffected his job or teaching position. The following illustration could ~ccur if present trends continue.

If we in agronomy do not set national standards for our profession and ~e do not say to the world that to be and "agronomist" or called and "agronomist" one must have specific training, then we are admitting that ~lmost anyone can practice agronomy - even those trained in other 3isciplines. As a consequence, jobs would be filled mostly by those not brained in agronomy because there are no professional standards in agronomy ~nd there are presently more non-agronomy graduates than agronomy ~raduates. It would follow that fewer agronomists would be placed in ~gronomic positions. This would i~:~ turn reduce the need and importance for ~qr~norr.ic degrees. In the long run, the interest of. students majoring in ~gronomy would diminish because others would be hired just as easily as bhey would. This would reduce enrollment in colleges of agriculture or ~epartments of agronomy and the teaching load would be appropriately ~ecreased - possibly affecting directly this academic professional's job! - even to elimination of the tenured academic professional's position.

This illustration may be more real than it sounds if agronomic employers continue to hire more non-agronomists to fill agronomic positions. As an example this year a reputable fertilizer company hired 23 ~raduates as "agronomists" of whom only five had agronomic degrees.

You ask, "What's in it for me?" Well, only you can answer it. How ~nuch does your profession mean to you? Are you afraid of being reviewed? Possibly, "everyone" knows you are a professional agronomist and your academic training and job position are all you need. May you also consider that you owe your 'professional status" to your training, skill and job position. You could join with ARCPACS and present your credentials along ~ith the hundreds of qualified professionals who are certified and state to the world that "agronomy" is an important field of science and there are standards that must be met to practice this profession.

The following article is a reprint from an article written by the late Ival Persinger, former Assistant State Soil Scientist in Missouri, that appeared in the Winter, 1977, issue of the PROBAUGER. Ival was snakebit and died on this trip shortly after authoring this article. Again, this article was retrieved from the archives of Dave Skaer.

My job with the Joint Commission of Economic Cooperation is working in the Ministry of Agriculture and Water. This is a place my wife and family will never see since women are not allowed in the building. One of my jobs is to produce a general soil map of the entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using satellite data (LANDSAT) as a base. Soil areas with potential for irrigated crops are one of the things outlined on this map. This requires much time in the desert collecting ground truth.

Temperatures in the vast open desert in September were 130 degrees F., enough to melt and 8 track stereo tape in the vehicle. I have been over sand dunes, desert pavements, and rock land that was 400 miles from any highway or gas station--a place where only Bedoums live and call their home. A lasting experience is having tea, coffee, and food in their environment and visiting using sign language, pencil and paper. It is truly a sensation to be sitting on the rug at the place of honor.

The highlight of all my desert trips was to see the Rub'Al Khali (Empty Quarter) which is the hottest spot on earth. It is composed of a series of sand dunes that are over 100 feet high. This is an area very difficult to get to and traverse so only a select few people in the world have seen this area.

I would like to tell you about the women of Saudi Arabia since they are usually and interesting subject, but they are 100 percent veiled 100 percent of the time so it is very difficult to get a peek. The wind direction and sunlight has to be perfect.

The general soil map of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is beginning to take shape. There may be an area in the northwest part that is thermic; otherwise the whole Kingdom is hyperthermic, Riyadh is 74 degrees F. About five months are high thermic and seven months hyperthermic. Rainfall varies from 10-500 mm per year, maybe. Records are scanty. I am trying to incorporate the rainfall data so it is reflected in the map units.

The images are good for the whole Kingdom--it takes 114 for the total coverage. We have 1:1,000,000 black and white; 1:250,000 FCC, 2x2 chips black and white. Our equipment consists of a color additive viewer which works good. It takes four black and white chips, band 4, 5, 6, 7. The filters of blue, green, and red can be assigned to the wavelength and varying intensity of color assigned to form the image on a frosted glass, We have a zoom transfer scope also.

Field equipment consists of two 4-wheel drive Chevy Blazers, two 3/4 ton pickups 4-wheel drive, all with sand tires, winch, and air compressors. Our backhoe should be here soon from the states. It will be on a 3/4 ton pickup. The Ministry of Ag and Water has a $60,000 camper also.

There is no way to explain how big and vast the open desert is or how painfully dangerous it is to travel. Her secrets are locked tight.

Ted Millen and I have taken four desert trips 640 kilometers from Riyadh. The first trip was with the camper which contained our food and tools. The Saudi driver of the Super Camper didn't show up for two days so we didn't have any food. It was Ramadan so he woke us up all night for something to eat. The third night the air conditioner burnt up. End of this long story for now.

The next three trips to the desert was with a camel tent, Coleman stove and lantern, sleeping bags, and five ice chests crammed with ice and food. Wherever we finished for the day, we camped. This way we could work 11-12 hours a day. We had some hair raising experiences in the hot desert. It is a very scary feeling to be 400 miles into the desert with no one around to help. Yes, we got stuck several times, one time it took four hours to get out--temperature 130 degrees F.

We now have reconnaissance soil survey finished of the Wadi Dawain are 1:80,000 scale that covers 160 miles by 65 miles. We have 34 map units described and have identified the potential soils for irrigated crops. They are of the variety of Calciorthids, Natrargids, Haplargids, Torrifluvents, Torripsamments, and Torriorthents. Problems are sodium, gypsum, calcium, coarse fragments, shallow-to-rock, and too sandy.

LARS has sent us the first printouts of a frame and it really looks good. Instead of a letter or number, the assign a pattern to each pixel so it is easier for the eye to recognize the landform.

Well, this will do for now, Have a good Christmas - Ival Persinger