Soil Sampling Sets Everything  02/05/03 12:58:45 PM Soil Sampling

Soil Sampling is the basis for every decision in your cropping program.  It provides the basis for your fertility and liming program, which in turn determines your seed, chemical, even your tillage decisions.  So how is it that something so vitally important is so often neglected? Get your soil sampling program up to speed by letting Farm Fertilizers & Seeds help you make a soil sampling plan of action.

Guidlines for a good soil sampling program are:

  1. Samples should be representative of something.  Whether you grid sample or zone sample, it is important that a sample can be shown to represent a portion of a field.  "Smart Sampling", the type of sampling Farm Fertilizers & Seeds recommends, divides the field into distinct "management units" based on soil type, history, topography, and/or yield mapping history.By sampling these "management units" separately, a fertility plan can be made that represents each "management unit" individually.  This is more effective than a benchmark, or averaging, sample because programs using a "smart sample" will be tailored for the "management unit", rather than over- and under-managing areas of the field that do not match up with the benchmark sample.
  2. Samples should be of appropriate size.  Too much or too little area sampled will skew results.  It is important to take a large enough sample that it is representative, but not so large that it ignores field variations.
  3. Sampling should be repeated, and repeatable.  Farm Fertilizers & Seeds recommends sampling on a 4 year rotation.  It is also important that samples taken are recorded in such a way as to make them repeatable the next time it is sampled.  By taking samples in the same "management unit" and the same vicinity each year, strengths and weaknesses of a fertility program can be measured by examining applications, yields, and results.
  4. Send Samples to a reputable lab.  Farm Fertilizers & Seeds sends our samples to A&L Great Lakes in Fort Wayne, IN.  A&L is an independent, professional lab that employs the most current scientific methods of analyzing soil samples, as well as the most stringent quality control measures.  For more information on A&L Labs and their sampling analysis techniques, visit their webpage.

Farm Fertilizers & Seeds has all the tools to help you develop a successful soil sampling program.  Using a GPS compatible handheld computer, we can map your fields, providing accurate size of your field, as well as geo-reference soil samples so the same spot may be sampled each cycle for accurate analysis of results.   Computerized fertility programs can then be created to make your applications smooth.  Professional, quality soil sampling programs start here.   Contact us to discuss your soil sampling program and how we can help.

 

 
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