SASKATOON – Soil cannot be taken for granted. Testing is necessary to obtain maximum yields from fertilizers and nutrients. These are not new themes for modern farmers, but according to those who do the testing, far too few rely on accurate measurements when making fertilizer purchases.
Soil testers suggest less than 10 percent of farmers do the proper testing and the remaining 90 percent could be missing out on profits.
The Western Canada Fertilizer Association’s annual retail survey indicates 32,707,113 tonnes of fertilizer were spread, plowed and seeded in the four western pro-vinces in the 1995 growing season.
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“We recommend soil sampling unconditionally for all applications,” said Don McLean, of the association.
Len Kryzanowski, a crop nutrition agronomist with Alberta Agriculture, said soil needs this year will vary widely depending on this year’s crop yields. He said large crops deplete the soil heavily, while in areas of drought smaller amounts of nitrogen and mineral elements have been removed.
“The first step in managing your soil is knowing what is in it. If you don’t know, then how can you manage it?” said Rigas Karamanos, of Plains Innovative Laboratory Services in Saskatoon.
