Free soil sampling program available for Indiana farmers

The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and partners throughout the state have worked with the Gulf Hypoxia Program (GHP) to develop a no-cost program with a focus on increasing the knowledge and use of soil sampling as a nutrient management practice to benefit farm operations. The program, titled Indiana’s Mississippi River Basin Soil Sampling Program, is open now for applicants through Nov. 1, 2024.

“Soil health is incredibly important, and our farmers remain diligent in protecting and enhancing their farms’ soil properties,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “One way to enhance soil health is to identify nutrient levels via soil sampling. Unfortunately, this can be another expense farmers cannot afford, so we are thankful that with the help of our partners, farmers can sign up to have their soil sampled and tested at no cost.”

ISDA promotes the importance of nutrient management and the principle of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. The 4R framework incorporates using the “Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, and Right Place” to achieve cropping system goals. The program focuses on soil sampling and testing because it is a key component, and first step, of developing a plan for nutrient management.

Soil sampling provides an assessment of the soil’s fertility which can be used for making fertilizer application recommendations, assessing available nutrients over time, increase farmer profitability and enhance environmental protection by reducing the risk of nutrient loss. This project was developed to help further Indiana’s State Nutrient Reduction Strategy efforts.

“Farmers bottom lines are tighter than ever, so this free program will be welcomed again with open arms,” said ISDA Director Don Lamb. “Last year’s free soil sampling program was so successful we had to close program sign-ups sooner than anticipated to ensure we had enough available resources, so we are beyond excited to bring this program back to Hoosier farmers this fall.”

This program includes row crop, pasture, hay and specialty crop fields located within Indiana’s portion of the Mississippi River Basin. Eligible landowners will be prioritized by acreage enrolled (i.e., 100 acres or less), fields that have never been soil sampled and fields that haven’t been sampled regularly (i.e., within the last 4 years). Further prioritization may be implemented based on ISDA’s workload capacity. This program excludes hobby gardens and private lawns. Interested farmers can sign-up online at ISDA’s website or by reaching out to soilsampling@isda.in.gov.

Sign-ups begin Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, and ISDA is accepting registrations until Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. To sign up, or if you have any questions, please contact Ophelia Davis at 317-232-0305 or soilsampling@isda.in.gov.

This program is meant to demonstrate the importance of soil sampling and the valuable information it can provide. This program is not meant to act or replace an operation’s existing soil testing schedule. This program was made possible thanks to ISDA, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance (IANA),Indiana Conservation Partnership (ICP) members, farmers and crop advisors.