Farmers test their soil to determine how much fertilizer is needed for improved crops and higher yields. These tests measure nitrate in the soil, not soil microbes. And, as a result, too much fertilizer is often applied.
A new soil test known as Soil Health Tool was developed by Richard Haney, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory in Temple.
The new test replicates some of the natural processes that occur in a field and accounts for that microbial activity, along with measuring nitrate, ammonium (NH4) and organic nitrogen, according to the USDA.
Tests on wheat, corn, oats and grain sorghum fields at nine Texas sites used the tool over a four year period. Fertilizer use was reduced by 30 to 60 percent. Results found the tool had little effect on corn production profits, but increased profits by 7 to 18 percent in wheat, oats and sorghum.