Monitoring Your Soil Investment
It is not going too far to say that the land, or more particularly, the topsoil, maybe the greatest asset in the primary producers inventory. Whether it is used to grow grass to feed livestock or to grow crops or trees, the character and fertility of the top few centimetres of the soil significantly determines both the productivity and the profitability of the farming enterprise. Given its importance, an obvious question springs to mind: “How much effort is directed towards monitoring your soil investment?” Or, to put it another way: “What soil testing programme is in place?” and “How regular is this testing programme and it is appropriate to the enterprise being undertaken on it?”
In the financial world, there are a range of different options available for anyone wishing to see their money grow. These options involve differing degrees of risk, return, time frame, liquidity etc. Before making an investment decision, the wise investor gathers information and carefully weighs these options. For some investors, this decision may be the final step in the investment process but for the prudent investor, it will the beginning of an ongoing exercise of monitoring and evaluating the performance of his investments. Clearly, in the business world, an ongoing knowledge of one’s assets and liabilities is a critical component of being a good businessman. In like manner, the primary producer needs to be well informed about his soil and to have in place an ongoing process to monitor and evaluate this important farm asset.
The value of land in New Zealand continues to increase. Most of the value of a parcel of land is related to its productive capacity and this in turn is determined to a large extent by the quality and fertility of the soil. To be a good primary producer presupposes that one is a good manager of one’s soil resource. This in turn presupposes an ongoing knowledge of that valuable resource. The best and most cost effective way to gain this information is through regular soil testing.
Aside from its productive value, the topsoil also has its own inherent value arising from the quantity and quality of the mineral and chemical components that constitute the soil. These vary from soil to soil and situation to situation, but for most soils are probably within the range of $5000-$10,000. Even before a seed is sown or a blade of grass eaten, topsoil is a valuable resource. Commonsense would suggest that it is wise to monitor this asset on a regular basis. However the soil is also a dynamic resource. It is constantly changing and rarely static. Nutrients are constantly on the move as they are removed by plants and animals, leaching, erosion etc and replenished via weathering, decomposition of organic matter or fertiliser inputs. To minimise the impact of this variability, soil testing is of most value if it is carried out at a similar time each season.
With so much riding on the soil, it is not only sensible but also vital to regularly test the soil to monitor and evaluate the status of this valuable resource. The frequency of testing will obviously vary depending on the farming operation, but most soils should be tested every year or so and at about the same time of the year.
There are many companies offering a soil testing service. Some tests are rather basic and of limited value. Others are more comprehensive providing a wider range of different analyses and providing the end user with much more information on which to base his soil and farm management decisions. Given both the productive and inherent value of the soil resource, whether a test costs $50 or $250 or more, this is a small price to pay to provide the information needed to gain a good knowledge of the soil so that good land use and fertiliser decisions can be made.
