First Day of the Season

As the first day of the autumn pulling season is upon us, we wish all of our field technicians safety, all of our farmers profitable yields, and all of our families patience as we leave before dawn and return after dusk.

Why get your soil tested?

Farmer benefits:

• Improved yields and profitability because you’re providing the necessary nutrients to your crops… and only the necessary nutrients. Allocate those fertilizer dollars for nutrients that will give you the most profit increase without excess waste.

• Increased consistency of nutrient availability across a field

• More uniform crop growth. This helps individual plants become stronger against weeds and simplifiees other processes like cultivation and spraying.

• More uniform plant maturity. This helps simplify crop harvesting and drying, along with improving your market quality.

Environmental Benefits

• More efficient use of plant nutrients means less losses from leaching or runoff into waterways

• Poorly nourished crops leave less plant residue to hold soil in place. Plant residue helps build soil and saves it from wind and water erosion.

• Providing the right levels of nutrients helps increase yields and may help reduce the need for intensively farming marginal land.

What information does soil testing provide?

• pH levels to determine if your soil needs lime

• Plant available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels to determine if you need to apply fertilizer to meet your crop needs and yield goal

• Magnesium and calcium levels in the soil

• You can also request things like percent organic matter level in the soil and recommended amounts of nutrients to apply