Soil Management Key To Success

Taking care of the soil is one of the most important things a farmer can do to ensure his or her operation is successful.

That was the sentiment shared last week at CropConnect by Soil Fertility Specialist Neal Kinsey of Kinsey Agricultural Services Inc., based out of Charleston, Missouri.

Kinsey says the key to saving money on fertilizer is to treat the soil, rather than treating the plant.

"When we start looking at the soil, what we're trying to do is then make sure if the farmer has enough of a given nutrient, we skip that one and go on to the next one and this way farmers can actually take their same fertilizer budget, and not spend anymore money."

He notes it's also important to balance the elements in the soil, as a chain reaction is created when there is too much of any one nutrient.

Kinsey says the best way to find out what's in the soil is to do a detailed soil analysis and to verify it with plant testing.