Suitability Tool

Where's your field?

Click a field on the map and its soil properties pull automatically from USDA's SSURGO survey — the same soil database NRCS uses. Expand Soil details for the full profile, survey area, and map-unit key.

Pick a field on the map or search above — its soil and field readiness auto-derive from SSURGO once you do.

44.1080° N, 123.0647° W
River Bend Field · Santa Clara, OR · 29.4 ac
Soil context Auto-derived from SSURGO
Willamette silt loam
fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Ultic Argixerolls
Soil details
Clay
18%
Organic matter
3.4%
pH (1:1 H₂O)
5.9
CEC
22 meq/100g
Show 7 more properties
Drainage class
Well drained
Hydrologic soil group
B
Available water capacity
0.21 in/in
Profile depth
60 in
Slope
3%
Surface texture
Silt loam
Farmland class
All areas are prime farmland
SSURGO · OR039 · MUKEY 46801
Field readiness ARS model · v0.9 · OR-WV
Moderately suited
Response potential 51/100

Willamette silt loam is moderately suited to receive biochar — moderate headroom for biochar to improve its dynamic properties. No use-invariant site constraints flagged.

Disables ponding / depth-to-water-table — they don't apply on tiled ground.

Moderately suited 51/100 response potential

Willamette silt loam is moderately suited to receive biochar — moderate headroom for biochar to improve its dynamic properties. No use-invariant site constraints flagged.

Dynamic soil properties biochar can improve these

  • pH response Microbial & fungal activity, nutrient availability
    5.9 High benefit
  • Cation exchange Nutrient storage
    11 meq/cm³ Low benefit
  • Organic matter Physical & chemical resilience
    3.4 % High benefit
  • Bulk-density ratio Compaction, root penetration, aeration
    0.25 Some benefit
  • Linear extensibility Vertical redistribution
    5 % High benefit
  • Saturated conductivity Infiltration, gas exchange
    22 µm/s Low benefit
  • Available water capacity Plant-available water
    0.21 cm³/cm³ Low benefit

Site constraints biochar can't change these

  • Slope Runoff, erosion
    3% Clear
  • Flooding Removal of sediments
    None Clear
  • Ponding Sediment transport
    None Clear
  • Karst landform Groundwater contamination
    Not karst Clear
  • Rock fragments Dilution and workability
    1% Clear
  • Surface stones Workability
    0.05% Clear

Ratings come from the NRCS Dynamic Soil Properties Response model. Thresholds map to ARS's published criteria; the values shown are SSURGO-derived. This alpha weights factors equally — ARS's published ×0.15 coefficients, the slope × O-horizon response surface, and a depth-to-water-table input arrive in the build. Prototype — figures are mock.

What are you trying to improve?

Pick what you want this field to do, in plain terms. Each goal maps to the soil-response factors the science scores against — choose as many as apply, and the suitability scores weight toward them.

Which biochars are you weighing?

Choose one or two biochars from the curated catalog to weigh side by side. Each lists its lab specs — feedstock, highest treatment temperature (HTT), fixed carbon, and surface area — the properties that drive performance.

Feedstock
HTT
Fixed C
Surface area
Feedstock
HTT
Fixed C
Surface area

Field assessments are advisory; producers should consult NRCS conservationists before application.

Map layers
    USDA NRCS SSURGO · USGS NHD · OR Geo Hub