|
Sanilac Co. Michigan | OK, I've been notilling for @20 years, and up until 5 years ago pulled my own soil samples. Around 2008 I talked myself into grid sampling and VR fert and lime application to bring everything up to snuff. My local CPS guy did the sampling and did the whole grid layout/gps coordinates thing. Overall I was happy with how the OM% looked compared to the samples I pulled in the past...I was seeing the increase in OM% I had experienced and expected. Now, here's the kicker. In 2011 I had the farm grid sampled again using the same gps coordinates, only this time it was done by a different Company and tech. I expected to see an increase in OM% as per my trend, but to my disapointment in many cases my OM% levels were lower (.25-.75%) than 3 years previous. What had I done wrong! I talked to the tech and the agronomist and here's what I found out. The tech was taught to "scuff" the soil surface with his boot before probing thereby removing any "duff" on the surface from the sample that might squew the test results. This is NOT what was done in prior samples. I think this is why my test OM% results were lower and can account for the issue the original poster reported! | |
|
Organic Matter Going Down In No-Till
