Ashburn, GA, (very close to Heaven!) | So many times, tissue tests (hmm, maybe yield monitors!) are report cards and show you what you've done wrong! However, well timed, properly sampled tissue tests can often provide insight on some correctable problems, and provide an opportunity for some in season adjustments to a planned fertility program. We inject a lot N through pivots down here. It is very much the standard to foliar feed Boron to cotton and peanuts, nitrogen to cotton, and sometimes K to cotton. Tissue tests, and in cotton petiole tests, provide insight to what is going on. If your tissue analysis is coming up short in spite of high soil tests, it is time to look at other cultural practices, like compaction, nematodes, root worms, etc. While the "revelation" may not be in time to maximize returns on this year's crop, it can help you plan for the next.
As I've thought about your soybean tissue test where corn is going this year, yes it can be of value. Perhaps a practice of two to three tissue tests per field per year will help establish trends of that field's nutrient uptake, and there may indeed be some conistency across different crops.
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Tissue tests?
