Soil Survey of McHenry County, Illinois Part I - Soil Data Mart

14 Soil Survey of
1950, the number of farms has decreased by 1,440.
Likewise, the total acreage in farms decreased from
265,908 in 1987 to 249,240 in 1992. The average farm
size, however, increased from 234 to 253 acres.
Agriculture in McHenry County consists of
commodity crop production, livestock, and specialty
crops, such as vegetables, turf, and landscape
materials. The largest agricultural land use is the
production of corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, and hay.
Corn accounts for 53 percent of the cropland acreage,
soybeans for 27 percent, small grain for 4 percent,
and hay for 12 percent.
In 1994, the number of swine was 44,200 and the
number of cattle was 38,500 (Illinois Cooperative Crop
Reporting Service, 1995). Dairy farming is an
important part of livestock production. McHenry
County ranks fourth among Illinois counties in total
dairy production. Other types of animal production
include horses and exotic animals, such as llamas and
emus.
Transportation Facilities
Nancy L. Baker, McHenry County Highway Department, helped
prepare this section.
McHenry County’s transportation system provides
passenger and freight access to the Chicago,
Rockford, and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. The
road network includes the Northwest Tollway (I-90);
U.S. Highways 12, 14, and 20; and State Highways
22, 23, 31, 47, 62, 120, 173, and 176. McHenry
County itself has a well developed county highway
system that provides connections between
incorporated and unincorporated areas.
Commuter rail is the major mode of public
transportation in the county. Commuter rail service to
and from Chicago is available in the communities of
Harvard, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Cary, and Fox
River Grove. A branch line links McHenry to the main
commuter line to Chicago. Freight is also shipped by
rail. Several lines through the county provide easy
access. Fixed route and demand-response bus
service is available in several communities.
McHenry County is served by three general
aviation airports. These are Dacy Airport near
Harvard, Galt Airport near Greenwood, and the Lake
in the Hills Airport.
Industry
There are nearly 900 manufacturing firms in the
survey area. McHenry County is home to a wide
variety of companies that manufacture such items as
electric timers, plastic molds, cellular phones,
computer components, and medical products.
McHenry County is especially attractive to industry
because of its large labor pool, extensive
transportation system, and access to major markets,
such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and Rockford.
Climate
Table 1 gives data on temperature and precipitation
for the survey area as recorded at Marengo in the
period 1961 to 1990. Table 2 shows probable dates of
the first freeze in fall and the last freeze in spring.
Table 3 provides data on length of the growing
season.
In winter, the average temperature is 21.7 degrees
F and the average daily minimum is 12.7 degrees. The
lowest temperature on record, which occurred at
Marengo on January 11, 1979, is -29 degrees. In
summer, the average temperature is 70.7 degrees and
the average daily maximum temperature is 83.1
degrees. The highest recorded temperature, which
occurred at Marengo on July 14, 1936, is 109
degrees.
Growing degree days are shown in table 1. They
are equivalent to “heat units.” During the month,
growing degree days accumulate by the amount that
the average temperature each day exceeds a base
temperature (50 degrees F). The normal monthly
accumulation is used to schedule single or successive
plantings of a crop between the last freeze in spring
and the first freeze in fall.
The total annual precipitation is 36.18 inches. Of
this, 23.71 inches, or about 66 percent, usually falls in
April through September. The growing season for
most crops falls within this period. In 2 years out of 10,
the rainfall in April through September is less than
13.44 inches. The heaviest 1-day rainfall during the
period of record was 4.07 inches on July 2, 1978.
The average seasonal snowfall is 35.5 inches. The
greatest snow depth at any one time during the period
of record was 38 inches on January 17, 1979. On the
average, 36 days of the year have at least 1 inch of
snow on the ground. The number of such days varies
greatly from year to year. The heaviest 1-day snowfall
was 12 inches on January 1, 1979.
The average relative humidity in midafternoon is
about 60 percent. Humidity is higher at night, and the
average at dawn is about 80 percent. The sun shines
67 percent of the time possible in summer and 47
percent in winter. The prevailing wind is from the
south-southwest. Average windspeed is highest, 12
miles per hour, in April.
Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms strike