HomeSoil seriesBarnes
Barnes soil series
Barnes soils cover 1,882,539 mapped acres, mostly in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 0% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 20%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 10 of the counties and cities on this site, including LaMoure County, ND; Barnes County, ND; Lincoln County, MN.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2011-09
of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements
of its land: a shallow water table limits basements
median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)
median highest clay content in the top 150 cm
USDA's description
The Barnes series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy till. These soils are on till plains and moraines and have slopes ranging from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 5 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation is about 430 mm.
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Barnes, revised 2011-09. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 1,882,539 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 0.0% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 20.3% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 25.5% |
| Most common drainage class | Well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | B |
| Taxonomic class | Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Calcic Hapludolls |
| Type location | Pierce County, North Dakota |
Where Barnes is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| North Dakota | 1,295,079 |
| South Dakota | 379,304 |
| Minnesota | 208,156 |
Places where Barnes leads
Counties and cities where Barnes covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| LaMoure County, ND | 23% |
| Barnes County, ND | 15% |
| Lincoln County, MN | 14% |
| Dickey County, ND | 14% |
| Deuel County, SD | 13% |
| Clark County, SD | 13% |
| Steele County, ND | 12% |
| Ransom County, ND | 12% |
| Stutsman County, ND | 11% |
| Brown County, SD | 8% |
Other places where Barnes is a main soil
Counties and cities where Barnes is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
Sources
Shares and properties: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access, weighted by each component's share of its map units. Description: the USDA NRCS series description. How we count.