soil testing

[Owainwills01]

Hello everyone, I'm a young lad who has just started a small contracting business and thinking of offering a soil testing service to try and get more work with lime spreading and fertilizer, First is it worth it without any degree in agronomy? and what's the most simple testing kit out there for the basic nutrients in the soil ? , and roughly what does a single soil test cost ?
Thank you all for your time

 

[clemmo]

Hello everyone, I'm a young lad who has just started a small contracting business and thinking of offering a soil testing service to try and get more work with lime spreading and fertilizer, First is it worth it without any degree in agronomy? and what's the most simple testing kit out there for the basic nutrients in the soil ? , and roughly what does a single soil test cost ?
Thank you all for your time

if you are advising you will need to do your facts if you havnt already done it

 

[Steevo]

@Cab-over Pete

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Taking your FACTS qualification will provide you with a broad knowledge on the subject of plant nutrition and give you a good base with which to advise your potential customers.

I don’t test for P, K and Mg myself preferring to send them to a lab. Buying and keeping up with all the necessary equipment for sampling will be very expensive.

pH sampling is a quick, simple test you can do from your vehicle and customers can see the sampling results in a few minutes. Walking and collecting the soil samples is very time consuming but necessary if you want to offer a full line lime spreading service. Alternatively you can go by other results and you will likely have to do that if you want to offer a GPS variable rate spreading service.

@Mounty would be a great place to start if you would like to know more about sampling supplies.

 

[Bogweevil]

Hello everyone, I'm a young lad who has just started a small contracting business and thinking of offering a soil testing service to try and get more work with lime spreading and fertilizer, First is it worth it without any degree in agronomy? and what's the most simple testing kit out there for the basic nutrients in the soil ? , and roughly what does a single soil test cost ?
Thank you all for your time

Test kits for nutrients are not very reliable and you really need to calibrate your kit against a lab test for each field or at least each soil type on your land.

Even then lab tests remain best practice.

 

[deleted user 837354]

You could charge people to pull soil tests and then send the actual samples to a laboratory. You would not be providing advice then as the results are emailed to you or the client directly. If you intend to sell or supply something though, you should really be FACTS trained though I know the odd bloke is probably still about selling fertiliser or lime without it.

I personally would not rely on any kind of DIY N,P or K test myself. It's really not the sort of chemistry one can do on the seat of their truck or in a field in the pishing rain if we are honest. Doing the little lime test, fine but you can still bork that up if you aren't paying attention. It's better than nothing though.

 

[Spencer]

Doing the little lime test, fine but you can still bork that up if you aren't paying attention. It's better than nothing though.

I disagree. Actually think the in field lime test is more accurate than a lab test. As the lab grind up all the little bits of road grit that the previous lime man sold you saying it’ll break down over years and it gives you a false reading of what’s actually happening in field ..

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Absolutely correct, but I think the point Ollie is making is that you have to keep your eye on every core of soil you put in the bag. Differing soil types within the field need different bags and any foreign bodies or bits need discarding too.

You can just wander about aimlessly.

 

[Spencer]

Absolutely correct, but I think the point Ollie is making is that you have to keep your eye on every core of soil you put in the bag. Differing soil types within the field need different bags and any foreign bodies or bits need discarding too.

You can just wander about aimlessly.

I end up doing more samples in a field than I would have historically if I were sending them off to the lab. By that I mean more tests, not more cores.

 

[Bogweevil]

I disagree. Actually think the in field lime test is more accurate than a lab test. As the lab grind up all the little bits of road grit that the previous lime man sold you saying it’ll break down over years and it gives you a false reading of what’s actually happening in field ..

Are you sure? I understood the lab protocol is generally to sieve the undried soil sample through a 4mm mesh, the sieved sample is allowed to equilibriate in deionised water and the pH measured with a pH meter inserted into the resulting slurry.

I have found the barium sulphate/indicator dye field test to correlate remarkably well with lab tests.

 

[Spencer]

Are you sure? I understood the lab protocol is generally to sieve the undried soil sample through a 4mm mesh, the sieved sample is allowed to equilibriate in deionised water and the pH measured with a pH meter inserted into the resulting slurry.

I have found the barium sulphate/indicator dye field test to correlate remarkably well with lab tests.

I'm not up to speed with current lab protocol I must confess.
I do however get on very well with in field testing and shall continue to do so.

 

[Owainwills01]

I'm not up to speed with current lab protocol I must confess.
I do however get on very well with in field testing and shall continue to do so.

what testing kit do you have?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Absolutely correct, but I think the point Ollie is making is that you have to keep your eye on every core of soil you put in the bag. Differing soil types within the field need different bags and any foreign bodies or bits need discarding too.

You can just wander about aimlessly.

Bloody hell!!!!

I MEANT to type you CAN’T wander about aimlessly!!

 

[Steevo]

Bloody hell!!!!

I MEANT to type you CAN’T wander about aimlessly!!

We all read it as that! We know how particular you are!

 

[Spencer]

what testing kit do you have?

BDH Style Soil pH Testing Kit | Keith Mount Liming

Professional soil pH testing kit based on the original BDH version. This kit provides quick and accurate soil pH results within minutes.

www.mountliming.co.uk

One similar to this..

 

[Flatlander]

Soil testing here is generally done on a grid basis and gps positioning. That way you can retest the same site the next time and track the nutrient levels more accurately. The resulting sample are sent for testing by a dedicated soil lab. Fertilizer company will do the work of collecting but wants the lab carrying the can for the info. A service like this I’d imagine would be well received. Far better than Jonny with a diy test kit giving out his interpretation of how much he’s going to spread and where. It’s big money on the line and when starting a new venture to get a business rolling the impression of unbiased results is peace of mind for both farmer and the op

 

[sheldenwhobrey]

It's great to see your enthusiasm for expanding your contracting business! Offering soil testing services can be a smart move, even without an agronomy degree.

 

[sheldenwhobrey]

It's great to see your enthusiasm for expanding your contracting business! Offering soil testing services can be a smart move, even without an agronomy degree.

You can start with basic soil test kits available online or at local agricultural supply stores. They typically cover essential nutrients like pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The cost of a single soil test can vary but is often quite reasonable, usually under $20-30. It's a valuable service that can help your clients make informed decisions about lime and fertilizer applications. If you ever need more insights or resources, you might want to check out https://starkbuilders.com.au/soil-testing-brisbane/