HomeSoil seriesHarney

Harney soil series

Harney soils cover 3,849,697 mapped acres, almost all of them in Kansas. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 100% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 0%.

It is the leading soil series by area in 18 of the counties and cities on this site, including Rush County, KS; Ness County, KS; Ford County, KS.

SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026

100%

of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements

0%

of its land: a shallow water table limits basements

7%

median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)

39%

median highest clay content in the top 150 cm

USDA's description

The Harney series consists of deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in loess. These soils are on uplands on slopes that range from 0 to 8 percent.

Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Harney. Read it.

Engineering properties

Mapped area (SSURGO)3,849,697 acres
Shrink-swell limits houses without basements100.0%
Shallow water table limits basements0.0%
Very limited for septic absorption fields95.6%
Most common drainage classWell drained
Most common hydrologic soil groupC
Taxonomic classFine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argiustolls
Type locationPawnee County, Kansas

Where Harney is mapped

StateMapped acres
Kansas3,833,489
Nebraska16,208

Places where Harney leads

Counties and cities where Harney covers more mapped land than any other series.

PlaceShare of mapped land
Rush County, KS57%
Ness County, KS49%
Ford County, KS49%
Mitchell County, KS46%
Hodgeman County, KS43%
Pawnee County, KS42%
Jewell County, KS38%
Osborne County, KS35%
Barton County, KS31%
Meade County, KS28%
Ellis County, KS26%
Russell County, KS25%
Rooks County, KS25%
Lincoln County, KS24%
Ellsworth County, KS23%
Edwards County, KS19%
Trego County, KS17%
Clark County, KS13%

Other places where Harney is a main soil

Counties and cities where Harney 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.