7.1 What have I got?

There are more than 22 soil types in the soil types in the mid-Murrumbidgee and mid-Murray catchments of southern New South Wales.
They are broken up into four major groups on the basis of their management properties.
The groups are:  
1. Non-sodic texture contrast soils (including Red podzolics, Yellow podzolics and Red Brown Earths),
2. Sodic texture contrast soils, including Solodic soils,
3. Earth soils, including Red earths and Yellow earths, and
4. Heavy clays such as Grey Cracking clays.

Include photos of the different types here if possible, maybe from The Soil Pak book?

There are also minor soil types such as alluvial, euchrozems and lithosols within this region.
Soil types can however, vary within a few metres. This means that in many instances, a paddock can have two or three different soil types.
Ideally paddocks should be fenced according to these soil types so the different areas can be managed based on their individual soil properties. This is not always economic, but a farm plan can help manage paddocks as appropriately as possible.
The southern areas of NSW are characterised by many soil chemical imbalances, including acidity, sodicity and salinity, and physical issues like hardsetting, compaction, surface crusting and soil structural decline. All of these issues can be reduced with good soil management.
More information about the characteristics of these soil types and their appropriate management can be found in part C2-5 of NSW DPI’s SOILpak,