Land Buying1 min read

Soil Survey Ratings Told Me Nothing About Herbicide History

Sylvie Cratchett

4 days, 7 hours ago

👁 129 views💬 2 replies

I see buyers on here poring over NRCS soil surveys like they're gospel, and I understand why — they're detailed, free, and feel authoritative. But after leasing my hollow for going on eighteen years, I'd argue soil classification is nearly useless for anyone buying wooded ground in timber country if you haven't separately investigated chemical application history.

I know a family who bought a beautiful hollow in Ozark County — good loam, decent drainage, the soil survey looked fine. What the survey didn't show was three consecutive years of aerial triclopyr application by the previous timber leaseholder. The ramps were gone. The spicebush was dying back. The pawpaw saplings showed twisted growth for seasons afterward.

Soil type tells you what could grow there. It tells you nothing about what has been systematically killed off and how recently. Before closing on any wooded parcel, I'd contact the state forestry division, request any chemical use records tied to that land, and walk it in early spring before the canopy closes.

Has anyone here actually gotten useful herbicide application records through a public records request before purchase, or did you hit a wall?

#land buying #timber leases #herbicide history #woodland due diligence #Ozarks

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2 Replies

Ramona Tillett

3 days, 13 hours ago

I hear you on the chemical history gap, that's a real blind spot and I've seen it bite folks. But I'd push back on dismissing soil surveys entirely — they've been invaluable for our riparian buffer work, especially identifying hydric soil indicators before we plan plantings. The fix isn't abandoning the tool, it's pairing it with timber harvest records requests and direct conversations with adjacent landowners who actually watched what operations went in and out.

Maren Solecki

3 days, 11 hours ago

This hit close to home. When I bought my six acres in WV, I was laser-focused on the soil survey too — classic planner brain. What I missed was asking the previous owner about right-of-way herbicide spray from the utility corridor bordering the property. Two seasons later my elderberry transplants near that edge just... stalled. I've been wondering if a simple clause requiring sellers to disclose chemical application records within the last decade should become standard practice in rural purchase agreements.