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Preventive and corrective maintenance for tractors and other equipment is a routine on the farm. From a soil and crops perspective, let's look at some maintenance that needs to be performed on your operation.

Useful items for soils and crops managers and specialists.

We can't control the amount or timing of rain. But, by managing the land, we can capture as much as possible to grow grass and recharge ground water when it does rain.

Organic matter serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water in the soil, aids in reducing compaction, and increases water infiltration. Yet, it's often ignored and neglected.

Those of you that have attended an NF Grazing School or New Cooperator Seminar have heard a discussion about doing a soil inventory. A soil inventory is simply an organized method of collecting and listing selected properties and potentials of the different soils contained within the boundaries of your farm or ranch.

Fertilizer, swathing, raking, baling and labor expenses can push the cost of haying bermudagrass up to $30/ton or more. With that kind of investment, it's important to implement proper management to assure a positive return.

A recent analysis of our cooperators' soil test data from 1999 to 2003 highlights the necessity of collecting soil samples in order to do a good job of fertilizing and liming.

This fact sheet talks about acidity's causes and corrections, the amount of lime needed to raise the pH, and the length of time liming takes to work.

There have been many recent changes affecting the Agriculture Testing Services (ATS). In July we moved one-half mile west from our cramped quarters on The Noble Research Institute's campus to a much larger facility that was formerly a Pepsi Cola bottling plant. We have expanded our office and sample preparation area, and the new arrangement facilitates efficient use of our sample-processing machinery.

A representative soil sample is of great economic benefit in crop and forage production. Applying a fertilizer or soil amendment that is not needed, excessive, or not enough to reach the intended yield goal is costly.