Topsoil Companies Share Sources and Practices in Response to Consumer Uncertainty

This spring, I had the privilege of taking a Newswriting and Reporting class through NYU’s School of Professional Studies, taught by Lizz Schumer. I took the class to improve my interviewing skills and learn more about journalism ethics for A Nourishing Harvest. 

For my final class project, I wanted to learn more about topsoil available for sale. Where is it collected from? It is processed or amended in any way? Do topsoil companies test for nutrients, pH, heavy metals, and/or other contaminants?

Representatives from two topsoil companies kindly spoke with me to answer my questions, as well as an Erie County resident who recently bought soil from a third company. 

After submitting this paper for class, I realized it would be of interest to A Nourishing Harvest readers. (You’ll notice the style of writing is quite different from my norm :)

All of the names of topsoil companies and staff have been changed. I’m not familiar enough with the topsoil industry to encourage or discourage folks from purchasing from particular companies, and I don’t want folks drawing conclusions about specific companies from this article. The practices and limitations these companies shared seem typical within the industry. For example, testing for contaminants (particularly carbon-based contaminants, as opposed to heavy metals) is generally cost- and time-prohibitive for any topsoil company. That’s not just a challenge these companies in particular face, and it’s not their fault if these tests aren’t yet practical to implement.

My intention is to give consumers an idea of what questions they may want to ask before purchasing. For example, asking whether the company does soil testing can inform how much testing the consumer decides to do themselves, either before or after purchase. I hope this article is helpful!

Topsoil Companies Share Sources and Practices in Response to Consumer Uncertainty

Topsoil is a vital resource to homeowners caring for their lawns and gardens, but some community members wish they knew more about the soil they add to their property. In late March, Rick Mason from A.B. Soil and Kevin Lane from C.D. Landscaping addressed consumer questions by sharing their sourcing and soil testing practices.

Image: ground cherries (Physalis pruinosa) in our garden

Consumer Questions and Concerns

Jade McIntyre of Erie County struggled to find a company near her home that offered topsoil in February. She hoped to source as close as possible to cut down on the delivery fee. “I tried internet searches for words like ‘organic topsoil,’ knowing that you probably can’t call excavated topsoil organic. Only one place returned my call—E.F. Topsoil,” said McIntyre.

McIntyre ordered from E.F. Topsoil in late February. She plans to use the soil to fill three raised beds to grow vegetables this season. 

“I felt hopeful, finding a place that used keywords I was looking for,” said McIntyre. “It was native topsoil from our area. They offered me a 50/50 topsoil and compost blend, and a minimum delivery volume of 3 cubic yards,” which worked well for McIntyre. “They could do it all in one truckload, with one delivery charge. And we could save on all the plastic bags by not purchasing bagged soil.”

When the soil showed up at McIntyre’s home, she felt disappointed. “The most frustrating and concerning part was that there was plastic in the soil. We found strips of bags, bottle caps, and pieces of glass,” said McIntyre.

“Because I didn’t know what to ask, I didn’t ask the right questions,” said McIntyre. “Is it screened topsoil? Where does it come from?”

Behind the Scenes at Local Topsoil Companies

According to Mason of A.B. Soil, the topsoil they sell is “generally untouched.” When housing developments come into a neighborhood, A.B. buys the excavated soil from the developer or strips it themselves. “We truck it from the housing development to our facility, where we then have to pile it, spread and dry it with a dozer, screen it with our screening machine, and re-pile it in dry storage,” said Mason. "Then it’s ready for sale.”

“You want to avoid clay, wood, concrete—but for the most part, our machine will separate clay, stone, and wood, such as tree roots from the soil,” said Mason. 

“We probably touch the soil 5-6 times before it gets to someone’s backyard.”

According to Lane, C.D. Landscaping also sources most of its soil from developments. “But it comes from a lot of different places,” said Lane. “Anytime a new parking lot is built, all that topsoil that’s stripped off the top—most of the time, people are looking for a place to bring it, and we take it.”

According to Lane, C.D. Landscaping usually examines soil before they commit to removing and selling it to consumers. “It has to be good and clean—when we make it, we put it through our shredder. We add other components to the topsoil—peat moss and manure and other amendments. It can’t have clay in it, rocks in it. It’s got to be a pretty good product.”

Both Mason and Lane noted that they source as locally as possible. “With shipping costs today—fuel costs, the driver, and the truck—you don’t want to go beyond a 20-mile, 30-mile radius of where your place is,” said Lane. “The costs will get you."

According to Mason, A.B. Soil is conscientious about where it sources its soil. “If it’s in a contaminated area, like Love Canal and places like that, we don’t take soil from there because you know there’s toxic stuff in the ground,” said Mason. “There are soil tests you can do to make sure there are no contaminants and such in it.”

“We test just about everything we look at,” said Mason. "We want to be sure at the end of the day that the grass will grow in it—that it’s clean and good.” 

Mason wasn’t aware of which substances A.B. Landscaping tests for. At the time of publication, A.B. has not yet replied with this information.

Image: cute rows of red and green lettuce plants in a garden bed.

“I wouldn’t say there’s anything off limits,” said Lane, when asked if there are locations in their region of Erie County they avoid. “We could always test the topsoil—test the pH to see if there’s acidity to it. Most of the time, we don’t need to. You can tell a lot just by looking at topsoil—the color of it, the richness of it, the dryness. If you’ve been doing it long enough, you can just look at dirt and know whether it’s good or not.”

“A while back, some of the owners of the company invested in a testing kit,” said Lane. “It just made more sense—you’re not sending soil out then, and you can do it more on the fly.” 

According to Lane, the kit tests for nutrients and pH. Testing for heavy metals and other contaminants isn’t included in the kit. 

PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have increasingly gained attention for their ties to a range of health issues, including birth defects. They are nearly ubiquitous in American water supplies. PFAS and other industrial contaminants have been detected in biosolids (treated sewage sludge). In New York State, conventional farms are permitted to apply biosolids to their fields as fertilizer. Biosolids are not permitted on certified organic operations. 

According to Mason, sourcing from retired farmland is a possibility “depending on where it’s at. Distance is everything.”

Though New Jersey enacted a law in 2020 to protect the consumer from contaminated soil sold as “recycled soil and fill,” New York State has no such law on the books. Some towns in the state have their own codes regulating topsoil removal, such as the Town of Islip in Suffolk County. However, these rules typically pertain to property aesthetics, safety, and the effects of topsoil removal on the local ecosystem and agriculture at the site where soil is removed. The quality and safety of the soil for the consumer is generally not regulated.

Topsoil, potting soil, and other amendments cannot be certified organic, but they can be approved for organic production by organizations like the Organic Materials Review Institute. The OMRI seal can be found on approved bagged soil products in local nurseries, but local topsoil operations generally do not seek approval.

PFAS soil tests can be cost-prohibitive for the consumer. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection gives an estimated cost of $400-$500. These tests detect only a small number of the many PFAS compounds that have been used.

Making the Best of Available Options

Even if McIntyre had asked the “right questions,” she doubts she would have gotten all the information she would need to feel confident in the product.

“Getting unscreened soil took the shimmer out of it—my rose-colored glasses came off,” said McIntyre. “If it had been screened, I might have thought, ‘This looks great!’ But I still wouldn’t know if it had 30 years of chemicals sprayed into it, if it came from someone’s lawn. And the topsoil company doesn’t know what happened on the property before they pulled the sod up.”

“I thoroughly trust the guy I was talking with. I don’t think he was pulling the wool over my eyes,” said McIntyre. “If we had taken super pristine soil from a forest, or from across the country, I don’t feel morally good about that, either,” said McIntyre. “It’s like borrowing water from a place that’s in drought.”

“Yes, there’s plastic in it, but it’s our plastic, from our neighborhoods. So I know a little bit about it. It’s a company that’s local—a local business doing this work. It’s not some big conglomerate that’s bringing in topsoil from unknown sources—international even? Who knows where the stuff in the bags comes from. These are the pros. This is the best I can bring to our dinner table.”

For additional tips on purchasing topsoil, visit this article from University of New Hampshire Extension.

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Image: I’m holding a potato chunk, revealing the bright purple flesh inside.