Growers advised to test soils immediately after harvest
Record-breaking rainfall has washed away nitrogen, phosphorus and other essential nutrients, leaving soil health in tatters.
In addition, according to experts at Eurofins Agro, it is expected that some soils now contain worrying levels of contaminants like aluminium that could jeopardise future crop quality.
Soil health specialist Shane Brewer suggests testing soil immediately after harvesting crops offers the best opportunity to calculate optimum fertiliser requirements, which will help control costs and improve soil health ahead of planting.
“Testing immediately after harvest will help understand how the outgoing crop has taken up nutrients and what is left available to the following crop," he said.
"This will help to reduce input costs whilst improving plant available nutrients in soil stock."
