Soil Sampling....Why Bother?

There are currently lots of ways to spend your money on soil sampling. You may wish to consider chemical, physical or biological analysis. You could break this down further in to a range of subsamples each with its own associated cost.

Chemical Analysis for Nitrogen

As spring approaches and we consider commercial crop production, the importance of nitrogen as a major contributor to yield is crucial.

KNOWING how much nitrogen is economically worth applying is not going to be ACTUALLY possible until harvest. (Hind sight!) That means we have to make an estimate to meet our budgeted harvest yield.

To begin, Individual field assessment is important. Assessment of Green Area Index (GAI) provides us with an estimate of Nitrogen in kg/ha that the crop has already accumulated.

Deep Soil Nitrogen Testing (soil sampling) then provides a value as to the amount of Nitrogen found within the rooting zone.

These two figures form the basis from which we can now calculate how much additional Nitrogen to apply from inorganic sources.

Deep Soil Sampling Rig

Winter Wheat ,Green Area Index

Deep Soil Sampling Close up

Soil Sampling Operator

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