Going Organic? Get A Soil Test
Looking to make the change to organic farming or to improve your veggie garden? A soil test can give you the information to improve your soil. Are you going organic? Get a soil test…
Organic Farming
Organic Farming
If you are farming organic crops, soil testing can be an essential part of the process.
The standards that organic farmers are held to are much stricter than the standards for traditional farmers. They strongly emphasise the protection of wildlife and environment, not allowing herbicides or strong pesticides. Therefore, natural methods are required to ensure crops grow healthily and are resistant to pests or disease. One of these natural methods is to develop good soil.
Organic farmers can develop healthy soil by taking numerous steps. These can include the rotation of crops, using clover and other legumes to fix nitrogen and introducing compost or manure into the soil.
Healthy Soil
Nutrient management planning relies heavily on soil testing to identify the best way to utilise manure in the soil and to create rotational plans. The Institute of Organic Training and Advice recommend that soil analysis is completed regularly. This helps to identify trends in the nutrients available in the soil at different times of the year. This information can then be fed back into the nutrient management plan. Regular soil tests can also be used for nutrient monitoring, ensuring that there is no nutrient overload from the additional manure or compost.
Making The Change
If you are in the process of switching over to organic farming, soil tests can also be used to assess baseline data. This can help decisions based around what fertiliser type to use. Identifying which crops will grow well and why other crops may not grow. When undertaking the organic certification process, a soil test may also be required before you can apply micronutrients or other fertilisers.
Soil testing and analysis is key to enabling organic farmers to get the very best from their plants. ProHort Ltd offer soil testing and analysis services to identify nutrient levels in soil. Find out more on our Soil Analysis service page.