The days of report cards from high school or college are long past for me, but I still get a report card for our farming practices during the summer. If you haven’t fi gured it out already, I’m talking about the plant tissue analysis we run on our farm. It’s made us a lot of money over the years, and
tissue testing can do the same for your farm, too. It only costs $20 to send a sample in, so here’s why you should do it.

More fertility (and the right fertility) makes more yield in the fall. There aren’t too many people who would argue with that. However, you do need to manage that fertility if you want to keep improving your yields each year. It’s great to look at your soil fertility tests and get an idea what you have to work with, but how do you know that you’re not using too much or if there is something else you should be fertilizing with?

Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re spending $100 per acre on fertilizer. On a full 160 acre field, that would be $16,000. Then the questions start in your mind. Did I put on 10 pounds too much nitrogen? Should I have put some micronutrients on? Was it enough to put on extra phosphorus for corn last year and count on carryover for my beans this year? What will be my yield limiting factor this
year? Back in school it was easy. With every test along the way, you got a report card. If you were getting a D or an F, you knew you needed to improve right away. If you got an A or a B, you knew you were doing a good job. It was instant feedback. Why should it be different with your farming? Your paycheck is on the line! Waiting until fall to see how you turn out just doesn’t work, because if your yield is disappointing you never really know why. With plant tissue analysis, you can fi nd out right now what’s going on in your fi eld and what can be done to fi x it so future crops can be
much better.

Here are 2 plans for you to choose from to make tissue testing easy for your farm.

PLAN A – Solving a Problem Area of a field. Take two flags right now out to your fi eld. Put one flag in a problem area of the fi eld. Put the second flag in the best yielding area of the field. Take tissue samples around those flags once a week for 8 to 10 weeks during the summer. Compare the samples, and you’ll have your answer as to why you have variability in your field.

PLAN B – Managing Fertility and Yield in one field. Take one flag and put it in an area that best represents your field’s average performance. Take a tissue sample around that flag for 8 to 10 weeks during the summer. Compare your soil tests from that fi eld to the plant tissue tests and look for differences. On our farm, we have high soil potassium levels but have diffi culty getting that potassium into the plants in some fields. Learning about potential problems like these can make you or save you a lot of money.

Taking samples is quick and easy. In most cases you’re simply pulling fully developed leaves from the tops of about 20 plants. It takes less than 5 minutes to do and only costs $20. For more details on taking tissue tests and interpreting them, give your Hefty agronomist a call.