A new study about spatial variability of soil tests conducted by University of Connecticut has found that common analyses for OM, K, P, Ca and Mg have much higher variability than thought, ranging between 42 and 93% - in other words, “extremely...
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Winds of Calima carry rich African soil to islands in the Atlantic
Soil-destructive practices combined with the strong winds sweeping across Morocco and the Western Sahara are responsible for depositing soil in many countries around the Mediterranean and also out into the Atlantic ocean. Italy has a program to monitor the annual,...
The New Normal: “Regular” and “Mini” Soil Health Tests Introduced
Responding to growing farmer interest, Woods End Labs is updating its Soil Health test program for the 2016 season. The former Premium test has been reduced in cost from $75 to $55, and a new MINI soil health test will be added at a cost of $30. Woods End's offering...
As Maine goes with soil health so goes the nation
Maine has by most accounts not figured prominently in modern soil health initiatives, but 2015 stands out as a harbinger of great things to come. An emerging group of progressive farmers are demonstrating reduced-tillage + cover-copping methods work in corn, alfalfa...
After 44 years in storage, an archival soil springs to life on the 2nd day
How long can a dry soil be stored and microbes remain viable? Many persons who have stored soil samples dating back decades have asked us this question. We recently had a chance to test the “dead soil” hypothesis. Staffer Bob Burger uncovered his old archive of US...
150 years later, are our crop nutrient response models still working?
Virtually all modern crop response studies trace their lineage way back to Liebig and Mitscherlich models. Liebig gave us the most limiting nutrient concept, often illustrated by staves of a barrel - considered a huge breakthrough at the time. Unfortunately, Liebig...
Herbicide Plant-Injury Risk Management (PIRM) Tool for Compost – Upgraded
Composters face certain risks when growers purchase and use products for which herbicide residue effects have not been properly evaluated. The situation has propelled Woods End Labs to upgrade its auxin-injury plant test by adding Risk Categories. The goal is to...
Soil test controversy still exerting influence … a generation later.
It has been exactly 30 years this spring since Dr. William Liebhardt and colleagues published a carefully crafted survey of 69 USA soil test labs. In the ensuing uproar, some suggested Bill Liebhardt had thrown his career away. Recollecting the events, Bill (retired...
About the case of the disappearing chip bag ….
The day before Earth Day 2009, fans of American Idol were wowed by a TV ad showing a SunChips bag disappearing and turning into compost, right before their eyes. The ad was genuine. It took stitching together 8,800 individual images shot within a see-through compost...