General info
Delaware is a small state in the mid-Atlantic region and consists of three counties. New Castle County is the northernmost county and covers about 437 square miles. In the Piedmont Plateau area the soils are sloping to hilly, eroded or subject to erosion if disturbed and agriculturally is devoted primarily to pasture and hay land although much of the land area is taken up by major cities and towns. The southern part of the county consists of Coastal Plain soils that are more nearly level and some requiring drainage. The agriculture consists of mostly corn, soybean, and small grain production but with some nursery and vegetable production. Kent County is the central county and has an area of about 595 square miles. Soils in the central county are well suited to a wide variety of uses, both farm and non-farm. About 12 percent of the area is made up of marshes and beaches bordering the Delaware Bay. The chief problem in soil management is the need for improvement in drainage with 48 percent of the land area in need of some degree of artificial drainage before it can be used extensively for farming. About 22 percent is subject to erosion concerns and about six percent is limited by low available moisture capacity due to sandiness. Agriculturally the area is quite diverse with corn, soybeans and small grains using the most land area but with significant amounts of vegetables (baby lima beans, potato, and sweet corn acreages predominate) plus acreage of fruit, turf, nursery (greenhouse and field production including trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals), hay and pasture, and vineyards. The southern most county is Sussex County which is entirely within the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Sussex County comprises some 946 square miles with 93 percent of the land area suited for more or less intensive farming and the remainder as marsh, swamp, and beach. Natural wetness and sandiness are the main overall limitations in soil management with 45 percent of the farmable acreage needing some artificial drainage and 43 percent limited by sandiness and low available moisture capacity. Large acreages are now under irrigation in this county with increasing acreage in Kent and a much smaller percentage of acreage in New Castle County. As with the other counties, corn, soybeans, and small grain production predominate but significant production of truck crops such as cantaloupes, watermelons, English peas, baby lima beans, cucumbers, spinach, sweet corn, peppers, snap beans, etc. occurs. Some acreage of blueberries, orchard crops, vineyards, and other vegetable and small fruit crops occurs. Hay, pasture, pine tree production, and nursery and greenhouse production also are important to the area. In summary, Delaware is comprised of a small section in the north that is Piedmont Plateau but is predominantly on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The northern quarter is characterized by silt loam soils with sandy soils in the south. Field crops (corn, soybeans, small grains) dominate the cultivated farm acreage in part because of the influence of a large poultry production industry. Increasing acreage is devoted to vegetable production because of the need of diversification. In addition, there is a small nursery production industry in the state consisting of primarily of greenhouse and field production. There is a large retail garden center and landscape installation and maintenance industry in the state that serves an ever urbanizing population. Organisations / Institutes:
Update data |
URL www.hridir.org Hosted by K.U.Leuven
© ISHS
Last updated: Tue Dec 16 18:30:49 NFT 2003