# Soil Savy vs Clemson



## NWGALawn706 (May 19, 2020)

This is basically a question for any soil test. But what is the difference in sending a soil sample to a private business/company and sending a soil sample to an extension dept or university?


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I think it depends on what information they provide with the soil tests. From what I have seen everyone has a different metric on what they provide and it also depends on what sampling method they use too. I would just find one you like that provides all the information you are wanting and stick with them. There are many private and university soil sampling departments out there to choose from. Me personally, I would stay away from Soil Savy as their testing methods are not very conclusive in what I have seen. I am sure more of the "Soil People" will be by here to give you their thoughts on the subject. I know @Ridgerunner wrote a good thread on the subject somewhere here on TLF, I just need to go find it


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

It's the very first thread in this forum as it has all the quick links to important soil test discussions

Important Soil Fertility Threads


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## NWGALawn706 (May 19, 2020)

Thx!


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## Inglebrooke (May 7, 2020)

For what its worth, I submitted a MySoil (via YardMastery) soil test at the same time and with the same dirt sampling to the Utah State University Extension service. 
The numbers came back almost identical but the MySoil test was easier to complete and the results were MUCH easier to read/digest.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

NWGALawn706 said:


> This is basically a question for any soil test. But what is the difference in sending a soil sample to a private business/company and sending a soil sample to an extension dept or university?


In reply to your general question:
Soil testing is the process of subjecting a soil sample (dirt) to a chemical solution (or series of solutions, each targeting different nutrients) called an extract which dislodges/extracts nutrients from the soil and into the extract solution. The soil is filtered out of the solution and the total amount of each nutrient in the solution is measured (by spectrometer) resulting in a value reported either as parts per million or pounds per acre.
With the intent of producing more accurate results, at least for some soil types, there have been a number of "established" extract methods developed over the past decades (differentiated by varied combinations and quantities of chemicals) and the quantity of nutrients that each method extracts from the soil differs. The difference in results, "scores," can vary significantly between methods. 
The value of any of these test methods only occurs once the quantity of nutrient extracted or "score" has been calibrated. That is, through hundreds or thousands of of studies, what test value or "score" (or range of scores) of a nutrient will result in acceptable plant growth, what (low) scores will result in poor plant performance and what (high) score, above which, will result in no plant improvement. 
The vast majority of university and private soil testing businesses offer one or more of these "established" test methods (Morgan, Modified Morgan, Mehlich 1, Mehlich 3, Saturated paste, Ammonium acetate, etc.). Each of these methods have strict protocols to insure that the method will produce consistent repeatable results. All reputable labs follow those strict protocols. Consequently, it makes no difference if the test is done by a private business or a university. As long as both use the same test method and follow the protocol for that method, the results will be valid, accurate and useful.

However, you specified Soil Savvy in your heading:
Soil Savvy uses an unknown chemical extract and MYSoil uses an ionized water extract to remove nutrients from the soil. Both Soil Savvy and MySoil employ the use of a resin to collect the nutrients from the extract solution and then use an unspecified extract to remove the nutrient from the resin before measuring the amount of nutrient that is reported. These methods may or may not result in consistent repeatable results. Neither company references any study in support. More importantly, neither company references any studies of their methods being calibrated. There is no support that the range they identify as adequate for a nutrient is reliable. There is no explanation how the range was determined. Is it possible they just pulled the range out of their [email protected]@? To me it's like taking a Covid Vaccine that hasn't gone through any trials. Maybe it will work.


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