Professional Documents
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IS13107
Soil texture
Many soil tests now report soil texture. If the test doesnt have
soil texture then it can be determined by hand texturing (see
chart).
If there are different soil layers within the effective rooting
zone the soil texture for each layer needs to be determined.
Calculating RAW
Once the rooting depth and soil texture are known the RAW
in the root zone can be calculated by multiplying the depth of
the root zone (m) by the typical RAW (mm/m) at a given soil
tension (Table 1).
When the RAW is known, crop water use numbers (see Crop
Water Use Information Sheet IS13023) can be used to calculate
when the crop will again require irrigation. If the RAW is 28
mm and the crop is using 14 mm per week; it will need to be
irrigated in two weeks time.
Readily available water (mm water per m soil) between field capacity and different stress levels
Soil texture
-40 kPa
-60 kPa
-100 kPa
-200 kPa
Sandy
30
35
35
40
45
Loamy sand
45
50
55
60
65
Sandy loam
45
60
65
70
85
Loam
45
65
75
85
105
40
60
70
80
100
Clay loam
30
55
65
80
105
Light clay
27
46
57
70
90
Medium clay
24
43
55
65
83
Heavy clay
21
40
53
60
81
sugarresearch.com.au canegrowers.com.au
No
No
Does soil form a ribbon when squeezed between thumb and forefinger?
Allow it to break under its own weight, how long is the ribbon?
No
SAND
No
LOAMY
SAND
Ribbon is 25 to 50 mm
long
Distinct coherence,
feels gritty/sandy
SANDY LOAM
No
SILTY LOAM
SANDY CLAY
LOAM
No
SILTY CLAY
LOAM
No
No
SANDY CLAY
No
SILTY CLAY/
LIGHT CLAY
No
CLAY LOAM
MEDIUM /HEAVY
CLAY
LOAM
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