Importance of Soil Sampling

Successful crop production is reliant on effective nutrient management. Soil sampling assists in finding out what nutrients are currently in your field.

Soil sampling is important as it;

• Measures the nutrients that are left in your field following harvest
• Tells you which nutrients are lacking or are in excess throughout the soil in a field
• Helps you determine the most favorable fertilizer plan to increase or maintain yields for the following year

Ideally for spring seeding you want to test your soil in the fall post-harvest before the ground freezes. 

This allows you to determine the soils fertility, nutrient deficiencies and excesses and come up with the best plan as you head into spring and prepare for next years crop.

Doing a conventional soil sampling one takes 10 – 15 samples from throughout a field. 

To get an accurate representation of the field stay away from hill tops and low spots and take soil from areas of the field where the yield is usually average. The results obtained should then be an average representation of the field.

Interested in learning more? Want to get your fields sampled? Martin Deerline offers soil sampling by our Agronomist, Chelsea Pearce. Give her a call today to book an appointment and take the first step in starting a nutrient management plan.

Automatic Filling System with John Deere Active Fill Control

John Deere Active Fill Control is the next step for higher productivity and efficiency while forage harvesting. It is impossible for an forage harvester (SPFH) operator to constantly monitor the spout position while navigating fields and dealing with changing conditions.

That is where Active Fill Control comes in to save the day with automated truck or trailer filling. Cameras automatically detect the truck or trailer and current fill level once alongside the SPFH, ensuring consistent filling by managing spout steering, flap automation and fill strategy execution.

Watch Active Fill in action on one of our clients units below. You can see how the arrow on the monitor indicates where to fill and as it moves the spout adjusts to match that location.

Active Fill Control is available as a factory-installed option on all 8000 Series SPFH.

To learn more contact your local Martin Deerline Ag Sales Rep.