Page 19 - Logan County Farm Outlook - Spring 2013

2013 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com March 21, 2013
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in our county, this dust bowl reality begs
the question, “Were the soils of Logan
County and central Illinois injured by
the heat and drought conditions present
last year?
Greg Phillips of Sparks Soil
Testing, a local soil testing
lab and service, testified
that we have some of the
best soils in the country right
here in Logan County. They
are deep soils with plenty of
organic matter, a high cation
exchange capacity and a high ability to
retain moisture. Phillips said this is a
wonderful place to plant crops. The soils
here are one of central Illinois’ richest
resources.
As to the practice of soil testing,
Phillips explained that producers
cannot control the amount of
sunlight, rainfall, season length or
the temperatures, but they
can control the soil fertility
and therefore influence
production that way. Soil
testing gives the producer
the best indicators for proper
application of fertilizers,
including micronutrients to
make crops grow better.
Sampling is taken from the top 7
inches of fields from the time the soil
thaws through the first part of July to