ARKANSAS AGRICULTURAL ANALYTICAL SERVICE PROGRAMS

• Sponsoring Institution: State Agricultural Experiment Station
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1031140
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2023
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2028
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
(N/A)
FAYETTEVILLE,AR 72703

Performing Department
Soil Testing

Non Technical Summary
Soil, manure, and plant tissue analyses have become integral components of agricultural nutrient management for both agronomic and environmental purposes. The University of Arkansas offers routine soil analysis at the Marianna Soil Test Laboratory for no fee to Arkansas residents via funds provided by Fertilizer Tonnage fees and collected by teh Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Routine soil test information is used for developing nutrient management plans with agronomic fertilizer recommendations provided for plant production and soil management. Analysis of plant, manure, fertilizer, non-routine soil, and elemental analysis of prepared samples is performed at the Fayetteville Agricultural Diagnostic Laboratory for nominal fees with services utilized by various agricultural industries, farmers, consultants, and researchers. Information from all analytical services is used by clientele, including scientists, to develop nutrient management plans and budgets, diagnose plant nutrient-related maladies, monitor the nutritional status of various crops, and support nutrient management related research activities. Soil-test information is summarized annually to monitor short- and long-term trends that indicate the potential for the accumulation and/or depletion of nutrients in soil as result of under- or over-use of various nutrient sources. Additionally, analysis of large numbers of plant and manure samples allows for the characterization of typical chemical properties in various manures and aids in identifying widespread plant nutrient maladies.

Animal Health Component

60%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

10%

Applied

60%

Developmental

30%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
102	0110	2000	100%

Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;

Keywords

soil testing

plant analysis

manure analyses

nutrient management

crop fertilization

Goals / Objectives
The overall program goal is to provide analytical support for research and extension faculty as well as farmers and the general public foragricultural analyses that enables scientific discovery from research and facilitiates implementation of best management practices andrecommendations. The specific program objectives include:Develop and disseminate nutrient management guidelines that promote best nutrient management practices, facilitate production of profit-maximizing crop yields, sustain soil productivity, and minimize nutrient losses using the best available correlation and calibration research results.Develop, evaluate, adopt, and/or implement efficient methods, equipment, and instrumentation to process and analyze agricultural samples and deliver laboratory analytical results to clients that expedite the exchange of nutrient management information for the end user.Summarize information from analyses of soil, plant, and manure samples for use in educational programs, characterizing manure chemical properties, and tracking nutrient use trends across time.Organize, publish, and contribute analytical data to national databases and provide expertise to the development of decision support tools focused on forage, manure, plant tissue analyses, and/or soil fertility assessment.

Project Methods
Soil samples submitted for routine analysis will be summarized annually to determine the median values of soil pH and selected Mehlich-3 extractable nutrients with data categorized by crop, county, and/or selected soil characteristics. The percentage of acres having soil-test values within each soil-test level, including Very Low, Low, Medium, Optimum, and Above Optimum, will also be summarized for selected soil chemical properties. The sample submission process will also collect individual grid acreage information on the grid soil samples. The soil-test data will be summarized annually to identify trends in sample submission, and median nutrient availability by crop, soil traits, or geographic information to guide nutrient management education and research strategies. The summary will be published in the Wayne Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies. Soil test data will continue to be provided to the North American Soil Test Summary. Chemical and physical properties of manure sample analysis (Fayetteville Lab) will continue to be collated into a database with plans to publish in Ag Data Commons and eventually share these data with a database being developed by University of Minnesota researchers (http://manuredb.umn.edu/). The websites for both the Marianna and Fayetteville labs were updated and created, respectively, in the past four years and contain a complete suite of information and documents used by the two labs.Other analyses performed by the Fayetteville Agricultural Diagnostic Laboratory include forage, research soil, research plant, diagnostic analysis of submitted plant and soil samples as an aid in diagnosing nutrient related plant production problems, selected nutrient monitoring programs (e.g., strawberry), and analysis of samples digested or extracted by researchers. The annual report for the laboratory programs will include a summary of each type of analysis. State and county level educational programs may use published information from fertilizer sales, soil analysis, and manure analysis summaries to identify existing and emerging nutrient management issues that require specific educational programs. Information can potentially be summarized across time to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient management practices and educational programs.Alternative analytical methods, equipment, instrumentation, and technology that facilitate efficient analysis of samples and delivery of analytical results to clients will be investigated and/or developed as deemed appropriate. Examples of such methods may include, but are not limited to, methods of determining plant-available N to refine N rate recommendations for crops, soil lime requirement assessment methods, environmental risk assessment methods for soil P, use of field-moist soil for routine analysis, soil health tests, corn stalk nitrate test, soybean leaf chloride analysis and soil P availability indices for improving the accuracy of soil-test based P recommendations. Soil-test-based fertilizer recommendations will be updated with the most recent correlation and calibration data when deemed appropriate. New soil-test methods that accurately estimate soil nutrient availability will be incorporated into routine soil testing procedures or lab services offered for a nominal fee when feasible. Advisory committees consisting of Cooperative Extension Service faculty, Agricultural Experiment Station faculty, and industry representatives (e.g., Certified Crop Advisors and Soil Test Review Board) will be formed as needed to approve of and oversee changes.Improvements will continue to be made to lab services and physical, fiscal, and human resources. For example, we will continue to periodically meet with internal and external stakeholders for feedback on our LIMS program. The laboratory staff will participate in multistate groups, contribute to the development of decision support tools, and seek ways of using those tools to develop transparent, unbiased, and research-based recommendations to end users.

Progress 10/01/23 to 09/30/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience of the programs managed under the umbrella of the soil-testing program includes county Extension agents, farmers, homeowners, various private businesses, public institutions, scientists, and the general public that may use or be interested in the services offered or results of these services.Selected personnel participate in and make presentations regarding the use of soil, plant, and manure analyses at local, state, regional, national, and international professional organizations including the Southern Extension and Research Activity Information Exchange Group (SERA-IEG 6), NRSP11, Tri-Societies (ASA-SSSA-CSSA) International meetings, Rice and Cotton Conservation Tillage Conference attendees, the Agriculture Lab Proficiency Testing Program, Arkansas Plant Food Association, Arkansas Crop Protection Association, county Extension education meetings, and Arkansas Crop Management Conference. These audiences directly benefit from the nutrient management information that accompanies the analytical information from the laboratory and guides management practices that help maintain healthy fertile soils, crops, and animal production,to minimize agricultural nutrient loss into the environment, and maximize the return-on-investment (e.g., economics and profitability of fertilization) in manure and fertilizer nutrients that may be applied to cropland, and helping to ensure animal health is not threatened by poor quality feed and water quality. The agricultural analyses have short-term and long-term benefits. Inthe 2023-2024production year, accurate, timely soil test results and manure analyses were of paramount importance due to the poor farm economy. Changes/Problems:Numerous problems were encountered in our two laboratories during 2023-2024.Hiring new full-time staff continues to be difficult, especially at remote locations like Marianna, due to low pay and limited interest in low-paying jobs. Eventually, we will need to look at automating many processes to reduce the need for personnel in low-paying jobs. The cost of instruments and lab supplies has increased significantly due to inflation making budgets harder to manage. Instrument breakdown during peak use continues to be a problem that requires significant management and funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Theproject allows for the training of undergraduate and graduate students, farmers, consultants, and interested individuals from the general public via the generation of manure, plant, and soil analysis reports, lab tours, assistance with science projects, and providing analytical services for classes.Reports of analytical analyses and recommendations have been delivered directly to clients, educational information has been published in the form of Extension publications, soil test information is summarized and published annually in Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station publications (Research Series) and in oral and poster presentations made at field days and educational meetings. THe Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) or NRSP11Project also provided for collaboration among scientists and private industry on numerous topics related to soil testing and nutrient management How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information has been disseminated using podcasts, refereed journal papers, agricultural experiment station reports, press releases, oral presentations at professional organization and trade meetings, in-person conversations, and monthly collaborator meetings in the NRSP11 or FRST Project. The SERA-IEG 6 and NRSP11 meetings were major meetings of collaborators with common goals used to plan group activities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Marianna Soil Test Laboratory performed routine analyses on 220,032 soil samples from 1 January to 31 December 2023 representing over 1.5 million acres. Crop and soil-specific fertilizer and lime recommendations were provided with 46,207 samples. Clients used soil-test results from soil sample analysis to manage crop nutrient programs using precision agriculture technologies on another 155,096 samples from grid-sampled fields. Another 18,096 samples were standard check soils and solutions analyzed for quality assurance and control. A summary of the 2022 soil-test results by county, soil association number, soil series, and previous crop was published in the 2023 edition of the W.E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies Research Series. The median extractable soil-test sulfur values were summarized by crop across time showing a trend for soil-test S to decrease over time. The median soil-test P, K, and pH values from the 2023 sample analysis were summarized in preparation for publishing the 2024 Sabbe Series. Preliminary numbers indicate the Marianna lab will analyze fewer total samples in 2024 than in prior years due to the row-crop farm soil economy. The number of samples analyzed in 2023 was a record due to favorable weather and field conditions for sample collection. The Marianna laboratory sought and received certification for routine soil test results from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture through the Agricultural Lab Proficiency (ALP) program results. The 2023 Sabbe Series included 11 total reports describing edge-of-field monitoring of sulfate-sulfur and potassium loss in runoff; cotton, bermudagrass, corn, and blackberry yield response to nitrogen, phosphorus, and/or potassium fertilization; evaluation of alternative methods of assessing soil fertility; and the economics of different soil sampling and fertilizer application strategies. These research projects as well as the operation of two agricultural laboratories were funded by Arkansas Fertilizer Tonnage Fees. From October 2023 thru September 2024 the Fayetteville Diagnostic Laboratory performed fee-based elemental analyses on a total of 27,320 samples including 2,539 forage, 401 plant and 214 soil samples for diagnosis of nutrient deficiencies and/or toxicities, 872 total manure samples, 12,840 research plant, 5,317 research soil, and 4,095 prepared special samples from 1 October 2023 through 30 September 2024. An additional 306 samples were analyzed for a strawberry nutrient monitoring program with clients from several states, a substantial increase over the previous year (127). Samples were submitted by growers, individuals, and researchers from various institutions and industries. Databases of dry and liquid manure chemical properties were updated to include information through samples received in 2023. We shared this information with the Manure DB Program (http://manuredb.umn.edu/) hosted by the University of Minnesota and published the database in Ag Data Commons making the data Open Access. The Marianna and Fayetteville labs participated in the ALP proficiency program for plant, soil, or plant and soil analysis. The appropriate steps were taken to correct any analytical problems identified by the ALP program. The Diagnostic Laboratory also maintained certification by the National Forage Testing Association Certification Program and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Manure Analysis Program. Research on soil sampling, predicting soil properties from routine soil test data, assessing county-level legacy P, modeling soil test correlation data for developing soil-test-based recommendations, developing a minimum data set for research with enhanced efficiency fertilizers, and publishing datasets on warm-season forage field research and a manure database from the Fayetteville Agricultural Diagnostic Lab was completed by publishing peer-reviewed papers or the raw data in Ag Data Commons. The information for the two published datasets and the county-level legacy P data are directly from laboratory services provided to Arkansas residents. The manure database will be updated periodically with current year data.

Publications

• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Drescher, G. A., Slaton, N. A., Roberts, T. L., & Smartt, A.D. (2024). Soil texture and organic matter prediction using Mehlich-3 extractable nutrients. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment, 7(1), e20461. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20461
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: DeLong, R.E., N.A. Slaton, C.G. Herron, & D. Lafex. (2024). Arkansas Soil-Test Summary for Samples Collected in 2022. In: N.A. Slaton, editor, Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2023. Ark. Agric. Exp. Stn. Res. Ser. 701. Fayetteville, AR. p.5-22. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/aaesser/227/
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Slaton, N.A. (Editor). (2024). Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2023. Ark. Agric. Exp. Stn. Res. Ser. 701. Fayetteville, AR. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/aaesser/227/
• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Drescher, G.L., Slaton., N. A., Ahmad, U., Roberts, T. L., & Smartt, A. D. (2024). Soil moisture and probe characteristics affect core integrity and soil test results. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 88(4), 1216-1233, https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20696
• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Slaton, N. A., Pearce, A. W., Gatiboni, L., Osmond, D. L., Bolster, C., Clark, J., Dhillon, J., Farmaha, B., Kaiser, Lyons, S., Margenot, A., Miguez, F., Moore, A., Ruiz Diaz, D., Sotomayor, D., Spackman, J., Spargo, J., & Yost, M. (2024). Models and sufficiency interpretation for estimating critical soil test values for the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool. Soil Science Society of America, 88, 1419-143. https://doi.org/10. 10.1002/saj2.20704
• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Lyons , S.E., Arnall, D.B., Ashford-Kornburger, D., Brouder, S.M., Christian, E., Dobermann, A., Haefele, S.M., Haegee, J., Helmers, M.J., Jin, V.L., Margenot, A.J., McGrath, J.M., Morgan, K.T., Murrell, S.T., Osmond, D.L. Pelster, D.E., Slaton, N.A., Vadas, P.A., Ventera, R.T., Volenec, J.J., Wagner-Riddle, C. (2024). Field trial guidelines for evaluating enhanced efficiency fertilizers. Soil Science Society of America Journal, https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20787
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Slaton, N.A., Ahmad, U., Villines, C., DeLong, R., & Robinson, O. (2024). University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture database of dairy, poultry, and swine manure/litter chemical and physical properties Ag Data Commons. (Published dataset) https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25209035.v2
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: a. Slaton, N. A, & Uthman, Q. (2024). Bermudagrass forage response to phosphorus and potassium fertilization. Ag Data Commons. (Published dataset) https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/24978027.v1
• Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: e. Tang, Q., Duckworth, O.W., Obenour, D.R., Kulesza, S.B., Slaton, N.A., Whitaker, A.H., & Nelson, N.G. (2024). Relationships between soil test phosphorus and county-level agricultural surplus phosphorus. Journal of Environmental Quality, 53(6), 1127-1139. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20622