I have been working with a young farmer over the past few years, making visits and advising as he has grown his operation. He has attended very few offered programs due to his off-farm work. But lately he has attended a couple since he is seeing benefits from doing so. I have also been advising him to have soil tests done on his hay, pasture, corn, and bean fields, but he never wanted, or been able, to take the time. He just guessed at what his crops needed and applied accordingly. 

Well, this spring, along with increasing fertilizer prices and a program I offered on dealing with the rising prices and some strategies on how to address them, I was finally able to get him to bring some soil samples in for testing. I just heard from him, and he is a soil test convert and believer now. The reason is simple economics. He had already figured and priced what he thought were going to be his fertilizer needs. Then he received my recommendations based on his soil test results. He did the math and realized that by fertilizing to the soil test results instead of just guessing, he was going to save $2,400 this year alone.

He will be bringing in soil samples for testing annually going forward and will be telling anyone who will listen his very positive experience. I think that he will try to make time to attend more programs and follow some other advice I have given him, too, at least more so than he has to this point.