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Take Your Soil
Samples Now
Farmers can save money and time by taking soil samples now, says George W. Hawkins, associate extension agronomist at Virginia Tech. Savings are possible, explains the agronomist, because you can usually buy fertilizers at discounts of between $3 and $5 per ton at this time of year. Time is saved because it's much easier to take good soil samples now, says Hawkins. Weather and soli conditions are near ideal. Too, by sending in your soil samples now to Virginia Tech's soil testing laboratory you'll avoid the late winter and early spring rush, and you'll get back your fertilizer recommendations in a minimum of time. “When you take soil samples, remember that the soil tests and fertilizer recommendations will be no better than the soil samples," cautions Hawkins. "If the sample does not represent the area to be fertilized, the recommendations will not be the best for the area, and they may even be completely in error." He says to divide any field that you’re going to sample into uniform soil areas. If there are marked differences in slope, soil color or soil texture, sample such areas separately. There may be differences in the fertility level of these soils and differences in fertilizer needs. If one part of the field has been fertilized, limed or manured differently from the remainder of the field, Hawkins advises sampling this area separately. It will very probably test differently and have different fertilizer requirements because of differences in past management.
"Once you've divided a field into uniform soil areas, take a soil sample from each area," says the agronomist. “Take
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