Soil Testing Considerations
Fall and Spring are usually the time when farmers or fertilizer dealers take most soil tests to make recommendations for fertilizer applications. In the last several years, most dealers now do that service for their farmer clients. A few years ago, looking at soil test collected over several years, there was a big jump of .5 to 1.0% increase in soil organic matter (SOM) on all this no-till farmers fields. I started asking questions. He was already a no-tiller and using cover crops. Had he done anything different? No really. Then I asked who took the sample? He said the dealer. Who took them before? He said he had. Is there that much sampling difference between dealers and farmers? The biggest difference is that dealers use a machine (a soil sampler on a four-wheeler) while most farmers use a shovel or a probe. The standard procedure for collecting a soil sample 10 years ago was to wipe the soil surface clean of residue, then probe the soil, taking at least 10-15 samples in a rand...