Post-Harvest Soil Testing: What Your Fields Are Telling You

"The most important task before winter arrives is harvesting, ensuring that nothing is wasted in what amounts to an entire season of work. Gathering and preparing all the produce for market or storage is crucial. Follow that up with a post-harvest soil test, and you're even more prepared for next season. Look for at-home tests in farm supply stores, or contact your local extension office for lab tests."

"Organic matter is the percentage of organic content present. The typical OM range is one to six percent. Higher amounts of OM allow for better nutrient exchange, as high OM correlates directly with the amount of microorganisms present. No and low-till soils generally contain more OM. The CEC is the soil's ability to hold positively charged ions, or cations. These also bolster nutrient exchange and in turn hold them in the soil."

Complete harvest and prepare all produce for market or storage before winter. Perform post-harvest soil testing using at-home kits or laboratory services through local extension offices, sampling each field and submitting samples to receive results within weeks. Use results to identify nutrient deficiencies or excesses and to plan corrective actions, then retest before spring to assess effectiveness. Key test metrics include organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil pH, and buffer pH; these factors determine nutrient availability, retention, movement into plant tissue, and overall soil structure.

Read at Modern Farmer