{"id":2361,"date":"2023-08-15T13:33:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T13:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/?p=2361"},"modified":"2023-08-15T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T13:33:54","slug":"soil-testing-principles-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association\u2019s \u201cSorghum Insider\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor &amp; Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil &amp; Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, <a href=\"mailto:ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu\">ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Part III<\/strong> (Part 4 in a future \u2018Texas Row Crops Newsletter\u2019)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Part I: What is your soil test lab\u2019s philosophy of nutrient provision?<\/li>\n<li>Part II: What does your soil test lab base fertilizer recommendations on?<\/li>\n<li>Part III: Do you use a soil test lab that is out of state?<\/li>\n<li>Do you use good representative soil sampling methods? What depth should I sample? Does a fertilizer dealer collect and analyze your soil samples for free?<\/li>\n<li>How do I read soil test lab results?<\/li>\n<li>How long should I keep my soil sample reports?<\/li>\n<li>Can soil test information be useful in buying and selling farm land? And if nutrient levels are high is this a possible depreciation tax consideration for the buyer?<\/li>\n<li>Soil testing does not cost, it pays!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Part I of this series I discussed the different objectives and philosophies that various soil test labs may have.\u00a0 These include \u2018crop nutrient requirement\u2019 vs. \u2018build-and-maintain\u2019 residual soil fertility.\u00a0 Each philosophy has merit.\u00a0 Public and private soil test labs may approach these differently.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Part II I asked what does each soil test lab base their recommendations on.\u00a0 Hopefully, this is research field data that evaluates specific crop response to known or added nutrient levels.\u00a0 This <em>calibration<\/em> research is most likely conducted by university agriculture programs.\u00a0 So, what do private labs use?\u00a0 At a minimum I hope they take research data into consideration.\u00a0 It is possible a private lab may use the same data a university does.\u00a0 (I would like that.\u00a0 The data is available if desired.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is one major Texas caveat of basing crop nutrient recommendations on research data.\u00a0 Lesser crops like sunflower, sesame, peas &amp; beans, some forage crops, etc. have never been the subject of sufficient soil fertility research in Texas.\u00a0 To deal with this Extension staff likely has enough knowledge of the crop that we can still estimate the likely nutrient requirement.\u00a0 For example, we know about what the nitrogen nutrient requirement is for each 100 lbs.\/A yield of sunflower is.\u00a0 So based on a yield goal and soil test data I could give a farmer a reasonable target for nitrogen applications.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you use a soil test lab that is out of state?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Surprisingly many farmers in Texas do use an out-of-state lab.\u00a0 The ones I am aware of most are private labs in Kansas and Nebraska.\u00a0 I am not sure about lab use in Arkansas or Louisiana among farmers and ranchers in east Texas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This poses some immediate questions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Is the out-of-state lab using a soil extraction and test method that is appropriate for your Texas soil type?<\/strong> Across the state we have acid soils in east Texas, heavy clays in the Gulf Coast Plain and the Blacklands, and sandy high-pH soils in the High Plains.\u00a0 This has been a challenge even for Texas A&amp;M\u2019s soil test lab.\u00a0 Our main extraction method used on Texas soils is \u201cMehlich-III\u201d which is a compromise for various nutrients.\u00a0 One example where it may be less than optimum is for phosphorus in high pH soils (TX Blacklands, West Texas including the High Plains).\u00a0 In this case, if a farmer was interested mostly in P only, the Olsen Bicarbonate test is more accurate in assessing soil P nutrient availability\u2014provided the crop-specific calibration data is available.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What data does the out-of-state lab use for soil fertility recommendations for Texas soils and the crops we grow?<\/strong> Nebraska grows lots of corn.\u00a0 Is Nebraska calibration data appropriate to use on a field of corn grown in Texas?\u00a0 What about soil samples for cotton production?\u00a0 (There is no cotton production in Nebraska.)\u00a0 Ideally, an out-of-state lab would load region- or state-specific, crop-specific information in their database.\u00a0 Then recommendations are made based on zip code or a regional\/state factor then the algorithm will pull up more specific regional or state recommendations for the client.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Question to Ask<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For soil test results, I stated in Parts I &amp; II you are entitled to know what the results mean and what soil test philosophy is behind them.\u00a0 <u>Ask the lab<\/u>.\u00a0 But if you are also using an out-of-state lab, then <u>you should also inquire<\/u> about that possible difference in getting reliable recommendations.\u00a0 The test value\u2014provided the same soil test extraction method is used\u2014is useful.\u00a0 Then if you are aware, you can determine your own approximate crop nutrient requirement.\u00a0 You can also look up the charts from Texas A&amp;M\u2019s soil test recommendations.\u00a0 You can access these charts for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at <a href=\"http:\/\/soiltesting.tamu.edu\/webpages\/recommendations.html\">http:\/\/soiltesting.tamu.edu\/webpages\/recommendations.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Texas A&amp;M AgriLife is not recommending you avoid using an out-of-state soil test lab.\u00a0 You may like the results you have received, the cost is reasonable, the turn-around time is fast.\u00a0 Just be aware of what may\u2014or may not\u2014be behind the recommendations you receive.\u00a0 I am taking this to heart myself and have sent several inquiries to learn how out-of-state labs make recommendations for crops in Texas soils.\u00a0 The first lab that responded does use some Texas calibration data though for wheat they use Kansas and Oklahoma information (which is similar to Texas A&amp;M\u2019s recommendations).<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association\u2019s \u201cSorghum Insider\u201d &nbsp; Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor &amp; Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil &amp; Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Part III (Part 4 in a future \u2018Texas Row Crops Newsletter\u2019) &nbsp; Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops: &nbsp; Part I: What is your soil test lab\u2019s 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&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1756,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[223,65,7,175],"tags":[230],"class_list":["post-2361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-223","category-agriculture","category-soil","category-soil-test","tag-soil-testing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association\u2019s \u201cSorghum Insider\u201d &nbsp; Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor &amp; Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil &amp; Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Part III (Part 4 in a future \u2018Texas Row Crops Newsletter\u2019) &nbsp; Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops: &nbsp; Part I: What is your soil test lab\u2019s 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 &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas Row Crops Newsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ahairston1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ahairston1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ahairston1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520\"},\"headline\":\"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":925,\"keywords\":[\"Soil Testing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"2023\",\"Agriculture\",\"Soil\",\"Soil Test\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/\",\"name\":\"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/15\\\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Row Crops Newsletter\",\"description\":\"Meeting AgriLife\u2019s Outreach Mission\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520\",\"name\":\"ahairston1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ahairston1\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasrowcrops\\\/author\\\/ahairston1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter","og_description":"This item is adapted from an AgriLife submission to Texas Grain Sorghum Association\u2019s \u201cSorghum Insider\u201d &nbsp; Calvin Trostle, Ph.D., Professor &amp; Extension Agronomist, TAMU Dept. of Soil &amp; Crop Sciences, Lubbock, (806) 746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Part III (Part 4 in a future \u2018Texas Row Crops Newsletter\u2019) &nbsp; Eight Soil Test Pointers for Texas Crops: &nbsp; Part I: What is your soil test lab\u2019s 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 &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/","og_site_name":"Texas Row Crops Newsletter","article_published_time":"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00","author":"ahairston1","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ahairston1","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/"},"author":{"name":"ahairston1","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/#\/schema\/person\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520"},"headline":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3","datePublished":"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/"},"wordCount":925,"keywords":["Soil Testing"],"articleSection":["2023","Agriculture","Soil","Soil Test"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/","name":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3 - Texas Row Crops Newsletter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-15T13:33:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/#\/schema\/person\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/2023\/08\/15\/soil-testing-principles-part-3\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soil Testing Principles- Part 3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/#website","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/","name":"Texas Row Crops Newsletter","description":"Meeting AgriLife\u2019s Outreach Mission","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/#\/schema\/person\/75ce22ba318c76c9243126b212cac520","name":"ahairston1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6100fb6a0d96280a2cd1d35a52931aed95c6f99c103db541c4abd0ea32520ae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ahairston1"},"url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/author\/ahairston1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1756"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasrowcrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}