Soil testing is an integral part of good fertiliser management:-
- to determine the present nutrient status of the soil,
- to indicate clearly the existence of any deficiency, excess or imbalance of major nutrients,
- to form the basis for assessing fertiliser and lime requirements for both pastures and crops.
- to allow the writing of an official “Overseer Nutrient Budget” for the farm if needed.
With a long career in agriculture and as an independent soil and fertiliser consultant, Wise Earth’s John Ferens found an ever increasing number of smaller landowners and ‘Lifestyle Blockers’ asking for the same ‘one-on-one’ service that he gave to large commercial farmers. However the expense of driving many kilometres to carry out essential soil sampling put this out of the reach of most small farmers. (Around $400 per report is the industry average.)
The solution would seem to be for the farmers to take the soil samples themselves. But they would need a professional soil auger to give good test samples, and these are large (like a spade) and expensive to buy.
Necessity being the mother of invention, John, with the help of a number of clients and colleagues, applied their collective ingenuity to the problem. The result is the Wise Earth “Dirt Dagger” TM ©, the country’s first Do-It-Yourself soil sampler. This is now part of a mail order kit with all you need to do a professional soil sampling job.