News
Are Soil Carbon Gains Underestimated for Improved Management?
Farm researchers measuring carbon know the challenge of many errors: how to correct for the carbon stored per acre when the actual volume density of soil is unknown and changing. Over time, soil porosity alteration not accounted for can lead to significant errors or...
Behind New CEO Rebecca Harvey, Woods End Laboratories Plans to Set the Bar Even Higher for Agricultural Soil Testing
“It’s a total game changer.” That’s how Rebecca Harvey, Ph.D., and CEO of Woods End Laboratories, describes the impact of the agricultural soil health testing company’s recent relocation from Mount Vernon, Maine, to Augusta, Maine – a move that will triple its...
Enhanced Soil Health with Solvita in Maine Potatoes with Compost and Crop Rotations
A recently published long-term crop study by Maine USDA-ARS highlights the positive benefits of prior compost applications and soil-improving crop rotations on potato yield and soil quality. As part of full soil microbiological assessment, Solvita was used for CO2...
African soil study spotlights Solvita basal method for detecting management changes
A new study conducted in Africa evaluates Solvita vs other soil health tests for assessing the reversal of soil degradation. Paired fields in Ethiopia (23 farms), Kenya (23 farms), and Tanzania (13 farms) were assessed by a participatory approach where farmers and...
Rebecca Harvey has joined Woods End Laboratories LLC as Chief Executive Officer
Mount Vernon, Maine, June 9, 2022- Woods End Laboratories LLC, a US based leader in agricultural soil health testing, announced that Rebecca Harvey, PhD has joined the organization as Chief Executive Officer. Rebecca will lead the organization to further grow its...
LAB CONSISTENCY AND ROBUSTNESS FOR SOLVITA TESTS EXAMINED
WOODS END LAB released findings of the 2021 Solvita Proficiency test examining performance of thirty soil labs worldwide which use Solvita for soil quality tests. Four soil types were selected including fallow and arid rangeland, and intense tilled organic and...
Solvita Nexus Soil Tests Linked to Satellite Yield Stability Maps
Composite satellite images that show long-term yield trends have traditionally not correlated well with soil tests. This suggests that dominant forces in yield sustainability are not being captured in the way soil testing is conducted. Soil health tests also are not...
Woods End Laboratories LLC awarded USDA Project to Assess Climate Benefits of Perennial Grasses in CRP Lands
Woods End Laboratories LLC has received funding in a collaborative USDA Project assessing carbon reserves in lands under CRP (Conservation Reserve Program). This first of a kind project combines geo-spatial modelling, soil sampling and soil analyses to quantify and...
Solvita® Soil Tests confirmed through long-term field research as valuable testing tools for evaluating Soil Health
LaboratorA long-term study by the University of Guelph shows the usefulness of Solvita® soil tests as tools to predict soil health. The study, published in the September 2021 edition of Soil and Tillage Research, shows Solvita tests enabled a high level of certainty...
On the True Origins of Soil Health Testing
Soil health is a popular concept, often promoted as “regenerative” farming or "carbon farming" and more, yet it is traceable to very early challenges to conventional farming which triggered the new field. At the recent 2020 Soil Sci Society meetings, Will Brinton and...