Effingham, IL | dko_scOH - 10/28/2008 19:42 - Begin collecting yield data as soon as possible. Back it up; keep it safe.
- Sample intensively. Pick high points, low points, sandy ridges -- anywhere yields may be expected to peak or tank. This is analogous to making a topo map in that sampling average areas won't tell you as much.
- Address deficiencies, if you have them, by spreading to soil test recs. Draw down excessively high areas if you want during this time.
- After the obvious deficiencies are taken care of (about five years), fertilize based on removal.
- Sample again. We used to save enough in lime application to pay for the testing. That was back before P and K tripled in price.
I couldn't agree with you more. One thing I've always advocated is sample frequency. The more samples you pull, the more accurate the data will be. Of course there is a point where the expense outweighs the benefit, but a person should pull as many samples as they can afford. I'm planning on posting up an example of a zone analysis that I have done. I think it's important for people to see just how far off zone sampling can be. |
grid sampleing
