The best time of the year to sample for next year’s corn acres is right after your soybeans are harvested in the fall. For zone sampling, consider hiring an experienced technician from Maple River Grain & Agronomy, who can manage the entire process for you.

Once your results come back, our agronomists in Casselton can overlay your soil maps with yield data from your own harvesting equipment to show you where less fertilizer, lower plant populations, or both, might be warranted. On the flip side, you may want to increase nutrient application and plant populations on your most productive acres to boost overall returns.

While many growers look to soil testing as a way to better manage input costs, there are other reasons to consider regular soil testing as well. Applying the right amount of crop nutrients in the right place and at the right time can also help minimize losses due to runoff, leaching and denitrification.

A series of recent surveys by The Fertilizer Institute shows that by overwhelming margins, farmers would prefer to manage nutrient runoff and water quality issues themselves, rather than ceding that role to government agencies. And there’s no better way to begin moving toward better nutrient management practices than soil testing. To learn more, or to schedule soil sampling for your farm, call us today.