The Red River Valley has some of the richest soil and best farmland in the world. There are two reasons for this: (1) fertile (rich) soil had been brought down from Canada by the glaciers; and (2) a great deal of organicDecayed plants and animals matter had been left from Lake Agassiz.

The Red River Valley as it exists today emerged from receding glacier ice at the end last major ice age. Over a period of time that began about 14,000 years ago, an enormous "ice lobe" crept south from the Arctic, pulverizing all in its way and kneading the land into a new configuration.

Redriver soils are on lava flows and have slopes of 0 to 9 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 35 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F. TYPICAL PEDON: Redriver stony sandy loam, forested, on a 2 percent slope under Jeffrey pine and white fir at 5,200 feet elevation.

Red River Valley The Red River forms the eastern border of North Dakota.