# Farm Soil Sampling



## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

I follow this SW Wisconsin Farming channel on YouTube. A Dad and 2 sons (Ryan and Travis) grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa, oats and raise beef cattle. I find it very interesting as they try all sorts of things to improve yield, and understanding their soil's fertility is key. They use a local Ag service (Andrew in the video - an agronomist) to take soil samples in their fields each Spring and pay them to custom broadcast starter fert and apply early herbicide to their fields based on the agronomist's produced fertility map. The map is then used in conjunction with the family's John Deere planters and sprayers to customize feeding levels after germination. This video shows a glimpse into how they take soil samples. Looks familiar!

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xcrdyUgeE[/media]


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

I just posted a question about this. So when you take samples say your taking 6" I should use the entire sample. 0-6" or just at the 6" depth? It looks like he uses the entire sample


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Here ya go. Looks like surface down to 2 - 3.25" deep for grass covered areas; ground surface through the root zone and no lower. Makes total sense. I think many people may be sampling too deeply and thus not including nutrients and additives applied to the surface. I think I'll redo my own tests to see if there is a difference.

[media]https://youtu.be/TYo9htjBo88?t=3m50s[/media]


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

Ok thanks I thought soil tests were for root zone only. Since that where the nutrients are needed. I was wrong.....I'll put the entire sample in the bag like the videos.


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