Ray has been testing soil for farmers since 1983 and this has expanded to include tissue testing, feed testing and manure testing. He now does over 215,000 soil tests each year. His soil test prices were at least half the price of Australian tests. A lot of the No Till on the Plains farmers utilise his testing service. They are working on soil biological activity testing but thinks this is a while away.
It was interesting that Ray commented on the recent issues arising from the use of Roundup over a period of time and the build up in soil and the affects that this will have now and in the near future on soil health.
Ray likes to talk about soil on its productivity basis rather than fertility as this could just be a function of artificial fertilisers. Ray used to have a turn around time of one day for soil tests but now due to the number he takes 2 days. All results are emailed out to the clients if the farmer has email!!
An interesting note is that a number of his clients and in areas across the plain have lost three feet of topsoil. He feels it will take 10 years to rebuild the soil structure using the no till system in the top 50cm and lower down it will take hundreds of years.
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