In January of 2022 the Rockcastle County Extension Office offer a soil testing class.  This class focused on the taking and preparing the soil sample, reading the soil test results and the importance of soil testing.   The Rockcastle County Extension office partners with the Rockcastle County Conservation district in an environmental grant through soil erosion and water quality cost share program to offer free soil testing for landowners in Rockcastle County.  

With the rising cost of fertilizer I saw the need to stress the importance of soil testing for minimizing input costs for farmers in Rockcastle County.  The program was very well received by the 31 participants attending.   Since the class we have had 30 producers bring in 126 soil samples for hay, pasture, vegetable crops and gardens.    Of these 30 producers I have worked with 12 producers management goals once the soil test results were recieved to help them determine the most cost efficient fertilization tactics for their operation.  Through this class it has been shown producers could save between 10-40 dollars per acre by soil testing compared to their previous practices.  With an average of 50-100 acres per producer this could be a cost saving of up to 4,000 dollars.  

With the success of this program and the partnership with the Conservation District, we are planning to expand and offer this program in the future.