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Otero sandy loam, l to 3 percent slopes <br />This is a deep, well drained soil on plains at elevations of 4,700 to 5,250 feet. It formed in mixed <br />outwash and eolian deposits. Included in mapping are small areas of soils that have loam and clay <br />loam underlying material. <br />Typically the surface layer is brown sandy loam about 12 inches thick. The underlying material to a <br />depth of 60 inches is pale brown calcareous fine sandy loam. <br />Permeability is rapid. Available water capacity is moderate. The effective rooting depth is 60 <br />inches or more. Surface runoff is slow, and the erosion hazard is low. <br />This soil is used almost entirely for irrigated crops. It is suited to all crops commonly grown in the <br />area. Land leveling, ditch lining, and installing pipelines may be needed for proper water <br />application. <br />All methods of irrigation are suitable, but furrow irrigation is the most common. Barnyard manure <br />and commercial fertilizer are needed for top yields. <br />In nonirrigated areas this soil is suited to winter wheat, barley, and sorghum. Most of the acreage is <br />planted to winter wheat. The predicted average yield is 28 bushels per acre. The soil is summer <br />fallowed in alternate years to allow moisture accumulation. Generally precipitation is too low for <br />beneficial use of fertilizer. <br />Stubble mulch farming, stripcropping, and minimum tillage are needed to control water erosion. <br />Terracing also may be needed to control water erosion. <br />The potential native vegetation on this range site is dominated by sand bluestem, sand reedgrass, <br />and blue grama. Needleandthread, switchgrass, sideoats grama, and western wheatgrass are also <br />prominent. Potential production ranges from 2,200 pounds per acre in favorable years to 1,800 <br />pounds in unfavorable years. As range condition deteriorates, the sand bluestem, sand reedgrass, <br />and switchgrass decrease and blue grama, sand dropseed, and sand sage increase. Annual weeds <br />and grasses invade the site as range conditions become poorer. <br />Management of vegetation on this soil should be based on taking half and leaving half of the total <br />annual production. Seeding is desirable if the range is in poor condition. Sand bluestem, sand <br />reedgrass, switchgrass, sideoats grama, blue grama, pubescent wheatgrass, and crested wheatgrass <br />are suitable for seeding. The grass selected should meet the seasonal requirements of livestock. It <br />can be seeded into a clean, firm, stubble, or it can be drilled into a firm prepared seedbed. Seeding <br />early in spring has proven most successful. <br />Windbreaks and environmental plantings are generally suited to this soil. Soil blowing, the <br />principal hazard in establishing trees and shrubs, can be controlled by cultivating only in the tree <br />row and by leaving a strip of vegetation between the rows. Supplemental irrigation may be needed <br />at the time of planting and during dry periods. Trees that are best suited and have good survival are <br />Rocky Mountain juniper, eastern redcedar, ponderosa pine, Siberian elm, Russian-olive, and <br />hackberry. The shrubs best suited are skunkbush sumac, lilac, and Siberian peashrub. <br />Parsons Mine <br />DRMS 112 Reclamation Permit Application <br />Page 18 of 110