Soil Sampling Protocol

For each field or piece of land:

  1. Sampling
    • 1 acre or less

      • Take 3-4 cores (using an apple corer, soil corer, hand trowel, shovel, etc.) from each of 5-6 areas across the piece of land in question.

    • More than 1 acre
      • Take 3-4 cores (using an apple corer, soil corer, hand trowel, shovel, etc.) from each of 5-6 areas per acre.

– Each core sample only needs to be 3” deep and ½” in diameter. Select these at random, ensuring that they are well distributed over the area of the field you are working on. Avoid going right to the boundary of the field and to any areas that are not representative of the field (e.g. the ridge line or a depression or a patch of plants that is not representative of the whole). If desired, mark the areas you are sampling on a map or get GPS coordinates of each sampling area.

 

– If you have a specific crop or set of plants (annuals or perennials) that you are interested in, take the core samples from halfway between the base of the plant and the drip line of the plant. For smaller annual plants, this location will be close to the base of the plant.

 

– You must repeat the sampling protocol for each individual field or paddock – using different sample bags for each. Or, if the area of land in question is very large, repeat steps the sampling protocol for several different swaths or sections of the land.

 

– One soil sample per field will give you a general idea of microbiology levels in the field. However, having a minimum of 3 soil samples for 1 acre or less or 5-7 soil samples for more than 1 acre will give a better representative set of data for the field/land in question.

 

  1. Place all of these samples in the same bag. No need to mix the samples as that will be done in the lab before samples are analyzed. (Note: Especially for larger fields being sampled, to reduce the amount of sample material sent to the lab, you may combine and thoroughly mix the sample material separately. Do the mixing in a sterile container and then place a smaller amount of the mixture in the sandwich bag or other vessel that will go to the lab).

    • For any single sample, please ensure that you do not fill the bag more than half-way with material. Seal the bag and leave a small part of the edge of the top unsealed (open to the air) – do not expel the air from the bag, as this will limit the oxygen available to the biology in the sample which may result in anaerobic conditions being formed. If mailing the sample, seal the bag but leave as much air in the bag as possible. Also, please do not put any identifying information about your sample on a piece of paper and place it inside the bag. The paper could potentially change the biology of your sample. All sample bags should be labeled with the name of the sample and date the sample was taken out of the ground on the outside. Store the sample in conditions as close to those that it came from as possible before handing it over or mailing it (dark location, similar ambient temp., etc).

  1. Take samples and hand over or mail priority (3 days or less) the same day that samples were taken, if possible.