# soil tests for grass hay



## banditman (Apr 18, 2014)

I want to do some soil testing on some dry land hay ground what sort of tests should i do? Is there a cretin kit or instruments that i should buy to do this? What is the most important factor when testing soil?


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## atgreene (May 19, 2013)

Your local extension office should be able to supply you with the forms and sample kits as well as who to send them to.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

You will want to have your soils analyzed for pH, lime requirement, (if the soil is acidic but likely not in Utah) phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and if for alfalfa test for boron. You might be able to borrow a soil probe from your local county extension office. If not, check with your fertilizer dealer who may have one. Otherwise, find an old wood drilling bit, cut off the end that fit into the brace, weld 20-inch or so extension onto this bit, and attach it into your portable electric drill. You will need to paint a mark on this bit at 6-inches, as that is the normal sampling depth. Find a plastic bucket and print out an information form from the lab where you will send the sample for testing. So armed, you are ready to head to the field and randomly collect at least 15 subsamples into the bucket, mix them, and randomly grab from the mixed soil 4 or 5 handfuls, placing into a zip lock bag labeled with your name and field location or number. At your shop, spread out the soil on a styrofoam or non absorbent paper plate to dry. Complete the information form, replace the dry soil into the plastic bag, and ship to the lab for analysis.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Something I do, and it's not as fancy as grid sampling, but if you have a handheld GPS unit save your co-ordinates then you can come back roughly to the same spot later to pull future samples.

Most likely a app can be had these days for a smart phone if you don't have a handheld GPS unit.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

mlappin said:


> Something I do, and it's not as fancy as grid sampling, but if you have a handheld GPS unit save your co-ordinates then you can come back roughly to the same spot later to pull future samples.
> 
> *Most likely a app can be had these days for a smart phone if you don't have a handheld GPS unit.*


Been wondering about an app for gps on a smart phone, so last night I found one (free) that gives latitude, longitude, and altitude, and it agrees quite closely with Google Earth.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

vhaby said:


> Been wondering about an app for gps on a smart phone, so last night I found one (free) that gives latitude, longitude, and altitude, and it agrees quite closely with Google Earth.


Polaris navigate? Just loaded it


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

My uncle (no cell phone) was asking me about GPS units. He was all set to buy but I suggested first he look for an app for his iPad. He thought it was too old but gave it a shot. Bingo. It met his requirements and was free.


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## Josh in WNY (Sep 7, 2010)

The soil test that I have pretty much follows what Vhaby stated. It does have a few other things, but I think they are either derived from what was listed above or are just part of the same test that the lab does.

I'm still learning the ropes of soil testing myself, but one thing I did find is that there was a wide range of prices depending on who I took my samples to. The extension agency was going to give me a big lists of tests and information, but not all of it was needed for hay... and they were going to charge quite a bit for it. The two local seed/fertilizer dealers would give me a test specific for my crop grass/timothy hay and one was twice the cost of the other (they both sent it to the same lab).

In short, check around for who does what and how much they charge.


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## pengs68 (Jul 3, 2009)

I used Umass soil and plant tissue test lab. A year and a half ago it was $10 per soil test. It had a ton of information about the soil and reccomendations on what to add. Plus I had the results in under a week.


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