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Consider the Solvita test

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Published: January 16, 2014

MINOT, N.D. — There is a more scientific way to assess soil’s biological activity for growers who aren’t comfortable smelling their soil or dropping an aggregate into a jar of water.

The Solvita test measures the amount of carbon dioxide that a soil sample releases. A high level of carbon dioxide respiration indicates the soil has a healthy community of micro-organisms.

“It’s giving at idea of how much biological activity is there,” said Kris Nichols, a U.S. Department of Agriculture soil microbiologist in Mandan, North Dakota.

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“You’re measuring your livestock.”

Nichols compared it to a room full of people, which will have more carbon dioxide than a half filled room. As a result, the carbon dioxide level measures the amount of biological activity in the room.

Nichols said Solvita is similar to a litmus test. A strip of porous material, with a mix of chemicals inside, is placed in the soil. The chemicals react to the level of carbon dioxide and the colour of the strip changes. The test is colour coded, in which certain colours represent an amount of CO2 in the soil.

For more information, see solvita.com/soil.

About the author

Robert Arnason

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

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