Sampling Soil After Soybeans is Efficient and Effective

If you’re pulling soybeans out of the ground this month, consider sampling that soil right after harvest, then getting your fertilizer and lime down, as needed.

“The best time to soil sample a field is after soybeans have been harvested from that field,” said Karson Schoening, Federated ag sales rep in Ogilvie. “Soil sampling in the year that you have soybeans in that field makes it easier for Federated to collect a sample because we have more time before we have to worry about frost or snow impacting the process.”

It’s important to do, because soil samples tell us what each field needs when it comes to fertilizer and lime.

Speaking of fertilizer and lime, Schoening says fall is one of the best times to get your soil where you need it to be for spring. “Fall fertilizer is a great opportunity for growers to apply potassium, phosphorus, and on some occasions, sulfur, for the next crop year,” he says. “Also, DAP and potash are typically cheaper in the fall compared to the spring. Applying DAP and potash in the fall also allows more time for the fertilizer to break down and become plant-available for the next crop year.”

If you’re harvesting corn this season, you can get a jump on spring by fertilizing now. “Applying fall fertilizer on corn stubble that is going into soybeans the next year means that growers don’t have to wait for us to spread fertilizer in the spring before you plant your soybeans,” Schoening said. “So logistically it makes spring go smoother for both the co-op and the farmer. The more fall fertilizer we can spread, the less time growers will have to wait for us to spread their fields in the spring.”

If you sample your soil soon after harvest, you’ll know whether you need to apply lime. That’s handy info this time of year, because it’s also a great time for lime.

“Fall is also a prime time to apply ag lime on any fields that need it,” Schoening said, “and you can use your soil samples to know which fields need lime. In most years, we can spread lime through December as long as weather allows.”

If you need soil samples, fertilizer, or lime applied to your fields, contact your Federated Agronomist.