Have light colored dirt and in the same field 50yds away it can be black as coal. What’s up with that?

Black dirts matter, but they don't judge in PA

Black dirt has more organic material and often washes down to the lower areas in fields, leaving the high areas lighter colored.

Keith

I noticed all your dirt is beach. What’s up with that?

I actually was more impressed by the guy plowing with a team. I couldn’t make a field look like that with my MF and a new ground rig. lol

The magic of a camera.

Higher percentage mineral soil will be lighter colored and as stated the darker soils in color typically have more loam, loess and organic matter.

Bryce

no dirt...ROCK!

Around here in Lancaster,and Chester county, the many mushroom houses gives away their spent mushroom soil by the many truckloads to farmers to spread on their fields.This may be why some fields, and maby parts of fields are noticely lighter than others

You mean there dirt not colored red?

Glacial

Yep, moraines.

Although there are many glacial boulder fields in this area I don't think what Hobbie is seeing are moraines. I'm pretty sure it's what Phil said, truckloads of spent mushroom soil randomly tilled into fields.

PA leads the US in mushroom production and southeast PA (me and Phil's area) has the highest concentration of mushroom farms in the state. Those farms replace the mushroom compost they grow their crop in about every three months. The huge amount of "spent" compost is sold to farms and anybody who wants it.

Ok, guess I should have held off till I could learn more, or seen for myself. I've said before on here I don't have a bit of a problem admitting I've made a mistake. Here we have many hills with sand or rich soil on the tops, they are from the glaciers that created the Great Lakes, and I live bang on a moraine. So it's quite common here to see the op's description during spring planting season.

No mushroom farms in my area to be a factor an we still have some field's that are much blacker/top soil looking than a field 200 yards down the road that looks like straight clay. Could it be the fields with less dark topsoil are over worked an devoid of all nutrients?

Forgot to add if I drive 20 minutes due east all the soil is red in that entire county.

Could be cow manure too, the entire County stinks right now from farmers slinging poo in advance of spring planting.

I didn’t realize you guys were close. Could of had dinner together and talked about everybody on here. lol

It is beautiful up there.