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AGSTAT agricultural&statistical consulting 6394 Grandview Rd. Verona, WI 53593 Phone: 608-845-7993 10 April 1993 To Whom It May Concern: Jim Klassy requested that I determine if a 3.3 acre parcel of Springdale Township in Dane County, Wisconsin is "prime" agricultural land. The parcel is located in the NE1/4 of the NW1/4 of Section 16, Township 6 North, Range 7 East (see Map 1). It is my opinion that this parcel is not "prime" agricultural land and is only marginally suitable for agriculture. My qualifications to make such determinations include: 1- obtaining a Ph.D. in crop science from Cornell University; 2- holding a faculty position in the Agronomy Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; 3- being a certified Professional Agronomist, certified by the American Registry of Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crops, and Soils; 4- running an agricultural consulting business, testing soil and making crop productions recommendations to farmers, since 1980; and 5- operating a cash grain farm since 1981 . The determination that this parcel is not "prime" farmland and is only marginally suited to agriculture is based on 1) the moderate productivity of the original soil type, 2) the reconstruction of the original soil after the site was used for a barrow pit, and 3) the small size of the parcel and adjoining field. The majority of the native soil on this site was a Dodgeville silt loam with a 6 to 12% slope (see site highlighted in orange in Map 2, the symbol for this soil type is DpC) . The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) of the US Department of Agriculture has given this soil a crop capability code of IIIe-2. The Roman numeral gives the Capability Class, which can range from I to VIII , with I being the most suitable for agriculture. Although the classification system goes to VIII , soils that are V or greater are used largely for woodland, pasture, or wildlife. The small letter and number specify management problems. In this case, the "e-2" means that erosion control practices are necessary if this soil is cropped. Furthermore, the SCS estimates the productivity of this soil to be 90 bushels/acre for corn and 4.5 tons/acre for alfalfa-brome hay. Those production estimates are considerably less than those for the Class I soils in Dane County, which have ratings of 135 to 150 bushels/acre for corn and 5.5 to 6.5 tons/acre for hay.