The Texas County Soil and Water Conservation District will host a “How Do You Read This” soil sample results workshop on Thursday, March 5.
The first session will be at 1 p.m., and the second session is at 6 p.m. They are limited to 12 for each session.
To sign up for either session or for information about programs available in Texas County contact the Texas County SWCD office at 417-967-2028, ext. 4 or 800-879-8894 ext. 4. The office is situated at the USDA Service Center on South U.S. 63 in Houston.
Here are some tips on soil tests: The first important step in developing a nutrient plan for any farming program is taking accurate soil samples. Soil samples are used to determine the fertility, organic matter and lime requirements of your soil. The sample you take from your fields represents the basic root zone layer. It is important to take a good soil sample considering the small amount of soil that is represented in the sample.
With the rising cost of fertilizer and lime you must have an accurate soil sample to determine what actual amounts you will need to apply to each field. The recommendations of most soil samples are for the minimum amounts necessary. For most state and federal cost share programs this is the amount approved for payment.
Taking the soil samples is a relative easy procedure. First you need to identify the field from which the soil sample will be taken from. The objective is to collect 15 to 20 cores from the field being sampled by traveling in a zigzag pattern, randomly selecting spots to take a core, sampling depth should be more than 6 inches. Avoid taking samples near shade trees, water sources and winter feeding area. Make sure you remove the top litter layer from your smaller samples, combine the small samples into one larger sample and submit the one large sample for testing. Let the samples dry before taking the samples for testing.
You have gathered your soil samples, divided them by the different fields numbers, let the samples dry. The last step will be to take the samples to the Texas County Extension Center at 1418 S. Sam Houston Blvd. in Houston. There is a charge.
Soil samples are required for most state cost share conservation practices.