Soil sampling is more important than ever, especially for farmers who are looking to manage their fertiliser expenses this year, as testing can ensure growers are not wasting products on areas that do not need treatment, Chris Nelson, accounts development leader at soil testing company SoilView, told AgTechNavigator.
Soilview is an independent ag service provider that tests soils throughout the Midwest, which uses APIs to move data from its lab to the software companies that farmers use, he added. Recently, SoilView was one of approximately 80 companies in attendance at the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association event in Peoria, Ill., Jan. 20-22.
Many farmers are facing another challenging year due to rising input costs and market volatility. Soil testing can bring clarity to exactly what farmers need to do to restore soil health, which in turn leads to better crops, Nelson said.
“If we are not soil sampling, we cannot pick out those areas that we do not need fertiliser on. Your highest yielding areas in the field are always going to be your lower testing soils because the plant is using up all the nutrients,” he elaborated. “Find those areas that need the most fertility, that you are going to get the most bang for your buck on, and feed those areas. Every farmer has areas in the field that never produce a good crop, yet they are still fertilizing.”
The when and why of soil testing
Despite soil testing’s benefits, some farmers skip testing to save money, Nelson noted. Farmers should test their soil every two to four years to determine nutrient deficiencies, according to Iowa State University.
“Everybody in agriculture knows that the soil is the foundation to growing any crop. The problem is through the Midwest, corn and soybean ground specifically, we are probably only sampling 35% of the ground. So, I would say somewhere around that 70% of the fertiliser being applied throughout the Midwest is being applied without a proper soil sample. ... In the economy we are in and fertiliser prices the way they are, it is disappointing to know we are spreading that much fertiliser without adequately knowing where it should go,” Nelson elaborated.
When it comes to the best time to sample soils, SoilView recommends pulling samples around planting time, so its customers can “have a few months to talk about a fertilizer plan with their growers, rather than shooting from the hip doing it all in the fall,” Nelson said.
“We plant our corn and soybeans when the soils are at their best. So why not sample when our soils are at their best? We get away from those falls where it is extremely dry and hard. We take that out of the equation,” he elaborated.
