Category Archives: Soil
Soil Testing Principles- Part IV
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu December 2023—Part IV (Part 5 in a future Row Crops Newsletter) Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Grain Sorghum: Part I: What is your soil test lab’s philosophy of nutrient provision? Part II: What does your soil test lab base fertilizer recommendations on? Part III: Do you use a soil test lab that is… Read More →
Soil Testing Principles- Part 3
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Part III (Part 4 in a future ‘Texas Row Crops Newsletter’) Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops: Part I: What is your soil test lab’s philosophy of nutrient provision? Part II: What does your soil test lab base fertilizer recommendations on? Part III: Do you use a soil test lab that… Read More →
Keeping Current with AgriLife Extension Test Lab Submittal Forms
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu The Texas A&M Soil/Water/Forage Testing Lab, https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/, is in College Station. It is a public lab that participates in the North American Proficiency Testing program for quality control/quality assurance. There are five types of general tests the Soi/Water/Forage Testing Lab (SWFTL) performs. These are not limited to soil! The types and their direct links… Read More →
Possible Land Purchase Depreciation of High Residual Soil Nutrients
Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu I contribute to a monthly “Ask the Agronomist” question-and-answer column published in the Wheat Farmer/Row Crop Farmer newsletter from 34Star Publishing in Kansas. This topic from the May edition is little known in Texas and originates mostly from the U.S. Corn Belt. Residual (Excess) Soil Fertility Tax Deduction Question: In order to deduct the value of excess fertilizer on newly purchased or inherited land, what is the best… Read More →
Soil Testing Principles–Part 3 of 8, Texas A&M AgriLife
Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Residual (Excess) Soil Fertility Tax Deduction: In order to deduct excess fertilizer on newly purchased or inherited land, what is the best way to compute and document that deduction? Necessary background: On 2/23/2023 Kansas State University Dept. of Agricultural Economics reprinted as an Extension publication a commentary from a law professor blog published on 2/21/2023. This document and the references therein outline a legal means where residual soil fertily at… Read More →
Soil Testing Principles–Part 2 of 8, Texas A&M AgriLife
This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association’s “Sorghum Insider” Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Part II (Part 3 in the next Texas Row Crops Newsletter) Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops: Part I: What is your soil test lab’s philosophy of nutrient provision? Part II: What does your soil test lab base fertilizer recommendations on? Do you use a soil test lab that is out of state?… Read More →
Soil management considerations for upcoming pre-emergence herbicide applications in corn and sorghum
Many farmers across Texas will be thinking about planting corn in just a couple of months, and sorghum shortly after that. Managing soil for good seed-soil contact and for fertilizer nutrients are common concerns as the time for planting nears, but understanding how the management of soil works into integrated pest management (IPM) programs can be helpful to ensuring the effectiveness of expensive pre-emergence (PRE) herbicide applications as well. There are two concepts presented in this article to consider for how soils effect PRE herbicides. 1. Activity –… Read More →
High Yielding Wheat Cultivars Extract Soil Water from Deeper Soil Depths
Sushil Thapa1, Jourdan Bell2, Qingwu Xue1, and Jackie Rudd2 Texas A&M AgriLife Research1 and Extension2 at Amarillo Winter wheat is a major crop for grain and forage production and is managed under both dryland and irrigated conditions in the U.S. Southern High Plains. Wheat yield and water-use efficiency (the ratio of yield to evapotranspiration, ET) in the area are primarily limited by soil water deficit from late spring to early summer. Therefore, the effective use of soil water, which is from soil water storage at planting as well… Read More →