Soil Sampling View more documents from Midwest Laboratories This fall the soil sampling season has extended from the last part of September through November. I can remember when harvest activity was occuring through Thanksgiving. Now with the advances in technology, the growing season and time spent harvesting have been reduced considerably. This leads me to…
Category Archives: Agriculture
Soil Testing Season
Soil Testing season has begun and is going very strong this fall. Here are some helpful reminders to help your experience. Make sure you order the proper supplies ahead of time: soil bags, boxes, shipping labels. Soil bags are free to Midwest Laboratories Clients Shipping labels can save you a lot of money. A 50…
Harvesting Potatoes
I came across this video on harvesting potatoes and I thought it really explained the process in a short, concise manner. I think it is important to look at the technology being used in agriculture and see where our food comes from. Potato harvesting occurs in late August and runs through September. The weather in…
5 Lawn care tips for October
Here are some items to be aware of with respect to your lawn in the month of October. 1) Reduce mowing – The seed that you recently planted in September should be popping out. As the temperatures begin to get cooler, the soil temperature also falls off and growing conditions also come to an abrupt…
October Soil Sampling
There are a number of ways to sample soil in your fields. The bottom-line, you are trying to get a good indicator of the soil nutrients in your field and find places where the nutritional levels are vastly different. With GPS technology, soil sampling has become very sophisticated with respect to defining your field. I…
Stalk Nitrate Testing
Soils Specialist Charles Shapiro posted information on this topic on the UNL Crop Watch Site, “Does Your Current Corn Nitrogen Strategy Deserve an A or a D? The results of the corn stalk nitrate test will indicate whether the corn was over fertilized during the season. How to Take the Test (Source UNL Crop Watch)…
Fall Lawn Care
I came across this article, “Soil Test Results Help Homeowners” by John Dawson. The article has some good reminders about soil and what to look for with respect to results received from soil testing for your lawn in September/October time frame. It is important to maintain a proper soil pH 6.5 – 6.8 . The…
Egg Shells and Calcium
A number of people I talk to often use egg shells as part of their compost plan to reinvigorate their yards or gardens. My question that I wanted to answer through this post was, “What value can egg shells provide as part of a soil nutrition plan?” For the answer, I turned to my friends…
Harvest 2011 – Sod Harvesting
Have you ever wondered where your front lawn sod came from. The following YouTube video gives a demonstration on how sod is harvested into round bails and stacked on pallets for distribution to retail outlets. It takes 11 months to 18 months to start from seed to a finished sod product. Check out this video…
Current Economic Report – September 2011
Dr. Ernie Goss follows the economic conditions. Dr. Goss has always felt that the economy in Nebraska has flourished during these rough times because the agricultural sector has stayed strong over the past few years. This months report is not good news. The numbers do not suggest a recession but the numbers have deteriorated from…
