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Have you been thinking about doing soil sampling on your farm? Now is the time to get it done. Soil testing is a great thing to do in the fall to save time and money in the spring. A large amount can be learned in just a few hours of taking soil samples around the farm. The results will more than pay for themselves since without testing it is a guess of how many nutrients are left from the previous crop.

Soil testing can help to make sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to fertilizer. It can help to improve yields and profitability, increases consistency of nutrient availability across the field, which is important for a more uniform crop growth and maturity that helps with drying time and improves market quality. Soil testing can also allow for fine-tuning of which nutrients are most needed, helping allocate your fertilizer dollars to those nutrients that will give you the greatest profit increase.

Not only can soil sampling help your bottom line but it can also help the environment too. Efficient use of fertilizers means there is less leaching or runoff of nutrients into groundwater and streams. A healthier crop has more residue which can protect and hold the soil in place after harvest.

Soil sampling can be done yourself and is simple to do. You will need a farm map, soil probe, small bucket or box, and soil sample bags. One sample can cover about 5 acres of a uniform field. If the field isn't uniform, then more samples may be needed. The probe should be pushed into the ground to 6" or to the depth of plowing. Take at least 10 cores per 5 acres - doing so in a 'W' or zig zag pattern and put them in the bucket and mix thoroughly discarding any rocks or crop residue. Put about 2 cups from your bucket into the soil sample bag making one composite sample. Repeat this across each of your fields.

Soil sampling should be done at minimum every four years. The more frequently you can sample, the more you can see results from your management changes.

Soil sample analysis cost average around $8 each. The Green County Land and Water Conservation Department has soil probes that can be borrowed and bags that can be used to take soil samples. Samples are sent to the lab to be analyzed and results are typically returned within a week.

Just doing soil sampling isn't enough, though. You must use the information provided by the soil samples, learn from it, and apply it to the fields to see full benefits. The easiest way is to incorporate them into a nutrient management plan. This is a plan for your farm that helps guide what fields need more of certain nutrients or what fields might be losing nutrients due to the crop rotation and management or tillage. The Green County LWCD offers a free class every winter to teach farmers how to write their own nutrient management plan.

If you have any questions about doing soil sampling, want to borrow one of the soil probes or are interested in writing your own nutrient management, plan call Tonya Gratz at (608) 325-4195 ext. 121.