New Zealand Soil Bureau (1936-1992 ) was a division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research specializing in soil-related research and development. Originally formed as the 'soil survey group' of the 'Geological Survey,' they became the 'Soil Survey Division' in 1936 and 'Soil Bureau' in 1945.^[1] Established adjacent to Taita College on approximately 90 acres on the Eastern Hills of Lower Hutt north of Wellington,^[2] the foyer featured a large mural by Ernest Mervyn Taylor depicting a cloaked figure using a kō (Māori digging stick).^[3] Soil Bureau completed nationwide soil surveys of New Zealand.

The impetus for forming a separate unit related to soil science was work in the 1930s by Leslie Grange and Norman Taylor which showed a correspondence between soil type and bush sickness in cattle, which led to the discovery that ash-based soils in the central North Island were Cobalt deficient and that cobalt-enriched salt licks could open up tens of thousands of acres to dairy farming.^[4]

Soil Bureau was renamed as DSIR Land Resources in 1990 and then reformed into Landcare Research in 1992 by the Crown Research Institutes Act 1992,^[5] but the name remains protected under the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981.^[6] Many Soil Bureau publications were digitised by its successor organisation.

Directors

• Leslie Grange 1936–1952^[4]
• Norman Taylor 1952–1962^[4]
• Joseph Dixon 1962–1966^[4][7]
• Morice Fieldes 1966–1973^[2][4]
• Bruce Miller 1973–^[4][8]
• Mike L. Leamy –1987^[9][10]
• Derek Milne 1987–^{[9][11][12][13][14][15][16]}