146-1 The Lessons of Sixty-Three Years of Extension Service Soil Testing In Mississippi.

See more from this Division: S08 Nutrient Management & Soil & Plant Analysis
See more from this Session: Soil and Plant Analysis: Tools for Improved Nutrient Management I
Monday, October 17, 2011: 8:05 AM
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 213A
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Larry Oldham, 32 Creelman Street, 117 Dorman Hall, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
Soil testing is a four part program: soil sampling, chemical analysis, result interpretation, and developing management options. It manifests technology transfer of soil science research, laboratory advances, and environmental stewardship. Most land grant institutions established public soil testing services just prior or after World War 2 as laboratory technologies and commercial fertilizers became more readily available; the Mississippi State University Laboratory began July 1, 1948. Over 2.2 million samples have processed by the laboratory in sixty-plus years. Yearly sample load and recommendation categories available from 1973-1974 to present were analyzed with SAS-based forecasting models to improve targeting of Extension Soil Testing outreach programs. Within agronomic crop categories, the number of soybean and rice recommendations was stable, and project to remain so for 10 years. Feed grain recommendations, after increasing for 35 years, project to remain stable in the near term. Recommendations provided for cotton declined precipitously because of private laboratory  competition and declining acreage. Pasture and hay recommendations are a growth market due to government programs in nutrient management and other cost-share opportunities. Within horticultural categories, the number of vegetable garden recommendations has been constant for years. However, based on history the forecast shows that horticultural crops, flowers and shrubbery, and lawn/turf recommendation categories offer growth opportunities. In summary, other agencies such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service have promoted soil testing successfully for pasture and hay management. The pre-2011 crop year acreage shift between corn and cotton affected sample flow negatively. Surprisingly, while the perception is that soybean nutrient management in the state is not soil-test based, the crop has been a steady market for the public soil testing laboratory. Potential growth exists in most consumer horticulture categories, especially with mass media support of public soil testing services.
See more from this Division: S08 Nutrient Management & Soil & Plant Analysis
See more from this Session: Soil and Plant Analysis: Tools for Improved Nutrient Management I
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