Annual/Termination Reports:

[10/02/2012] [05/01/2013] [12/01/2013] [10/10/2015] [02/01/2017]

Report Information

Participants

Jon Dahl  Michigan State University;
Fabián Fernández University of Illinois;
Robert Florence  Kansas State University;
Dave Franzen  North Dakota State University;
Ron Gelderman  South Dakota University;
Brad Joern  Purdue University;
Daniel Kaiser  University of Minnesota;
Carrie Laboski  University of Wisconsin-Madison;
Renuka Mathur Iowa State University;
Manjula Nathan  University of Missouri;
John Peters  University of Wisconsin-Madison;
Tim Shaver  University of Nebraska-Lincoln;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

NCERA 13 Committee Goals and Deadlines for Feb. 2011 - June 2012<br /> <br /> In progress<br /> <br /> 1. Develop a regional publication on Phosphorus. Antonio Mallarino, Brad Joern, Fabian Fernandez and Carrie Laboski will take the lead. Antonio has a very rough draft and will be sharing with the other authors shortly.<br /> <br /> 2. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 6 (Phosphorus). One of the key items is to add the ICP Mehlich P option. Antonio Mallarino will take the lead. <br /> <br /> 3. Prepare a new chapter titled Correlating and Calibrating Soil Tests for Fertilizer Recommendations. Dave Mengel will take the lead. <br /> <br /> 4. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 1 (Soil Sample Preparation). This revision will include the handling of moist soil for analysis and slurry preparation. Ron Gelderman will take the lead on this. A draft has been sent out for review by the committee.<br /> <br /> Completed or on hold<br /> <br /> 1. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 4 (pH and Lime Requirement). John Peters will take the lead. This will be done by July 2011. DONE<br /> <br /> 2. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 8 (Sulfate-Sulfur). Dave Franzen will take the lead. A first draft will be done by December 2011. DONE<br /> <br /> 3. Develop a document on end of season stalk nitrate testing. Robert Mullen will take the lead. ON HOLD due to the departure or Robert Mullen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Impact 9: Conduct regional soil and plant analyst workshops in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
2. Impact 10: Continue roundtable discussions with private soil testing laboratories in conjunction with the Soil and Plant Analyst workshops. Involvement in committee activities from members of federal agencies such as USDA, ARS and EPA will be solicited.
3. Impact 11: Develop new website and new mechanisms for electronic dissemination of project outputs. This new website is now up and running and efforts will be made to continue to build and enhance the content.

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Jon Dahl Michigan State University;
Fabián Fernández University of Illinois;
Robert Florence Kansas State University;
Ron Gelderman South Dakota University;
Brad Joern Purdue University;
Daniel Kaiser University of Minnesota;
Renuka Mathur Iowa State University;
Antonio Mallarino Iowa State University;
Manjula Nathan University of Missouri;
John Peters University of Wisconsin-Madison;
Kevin Jewell The Ohio State University;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

In Progress<br /> <br /> 1. Prepare a new chapter titled Correlating and Calibrating Soil Tests for Fertilizer Recommendations. Dave Mengel will take the lead.<br /> <br /> 2. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 8 (Sulfate-Sulfur). Dave Franzen will take the lead.<br /> <br /> 3. White paper on correlation and calibration of sulfate-sulfur soil tests. Dave Franzen will take the lead.<br /> <p><br /> Completed or on hold<br /> <br /> 1. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 6 (Phosphorus). One of the key items is to add the ICP Mehlich P option. Antonio Mallarino will take the lead. ON HOLD<br /> <br /> 2. Develop a document on end of season stalk nitrate testing. Robert Mullen was going to be the lead on this. ON HOLD<br /> <br /> 3. Update NCERA013 website and Pub. 221. Manjula Nathan will take the lead. DONE.<br /> <br /> 4. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 1 (Soil Sample Preparation). This revision will include the handling of moist soil for analysis and slurry preparation. Ron Gelderman will take the lead on this. DONE<br /> <br /> 5. Revise Pub. 221, Chapter 4 (pH and Lime Requirement). John Peters will take the lead. DONE;<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Impact 9: Organize and conduct a regional soil and plant analysis workshop in 2011, 2013, and 2015.
2. Impact 10: Continue roundtable discussions with private soil testing laboratories and solicit involvement of private laboratories and members of federal agencies such as USDA, ARS, and EPA in committee activities.
3. Impact 11: Update and expand project website to distribute materials and project outputs within the North-central region.
4. Identify soil test procedures for use in the North central region and maintain and update a laboratory procedure manual for recommended soil test procedures.

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Dave Franzen North Dakota State University
Antonio Mallarino- Iowa State University
Daniel Kaiser  University of Minnesota
Robert Florence  Kansas State University
Renuka Mathur Iowa State University
Dorivar Ruiz Diaz  Kansas State University
Manjula Nathan  University of Missouri
Jon Dahl  Michigan State University
John Peters  University of Wisconsin-Madison
Carrie Laboski  University of Wisconsin-Madison
Howard Woodard  South Dakota University
Anthony Bly  South Dakota University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

The NCERA-013 was updated with new materials reflecting relevant topics related to soil testing within the North Central region. One major area of focus has been on moist/wet soil testing for potassium which was discussed at the meeting. The NCR-221 regional publication was updated to include guidelines on moist analysis of soil samples for K. The final draft of the chapter on sulfur soil testing has been prepared and will be approved for revising the publication in early 2014. A white paper draft was put together on the usefulness of sulfur soil tests for making fertilizer recommendations which will be released during the 2014 calendar year. Planning is underway for the next workshop that will be held in February 2015.

Publications

Brown, J.E. (ed.) 1998 Recommended chemical soil test procedures for the North Central Region. North Central Reg. Publ. 221 (rev.). Univ. of Missouri, Columbia.<br /> Revised 2013

Impact Statements

1. Updated NCR-221 publication on moist soil testing for labs currently using or interested in using this procedure
2. Updated website with information on key soil testing issues, such as the moist K test.

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Dave Franzen– North Dakota State University
Antonio Mallarino- Iowa State University
Daniel Kaiser – University of Minnesota
Renuka Mathur– Iowa State University
Dorivar Ruiz Diaz – Kansas State University
Manjula Nathan – University of Missouri
Jon Dahl – Michigan State University
Carrie Laboski – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Steve Culman – Ohio State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Update of Methods Publication Chapters being Revised

Sulfur methods chapter: David Franzen updated the group about his leadership for updating the committee S methods chapter and also a regional paper on S management in general. The methods chapter was discussed and approved by the committee and both Franzen and Nathan will work at preparing for uploading to the online version of the committee methods publication.

Organic matter chapter: Manjula Nathan shared a draft of the updated organic matter chapter she is working on with the collaboration of Robert Florence. Work on this chapter revision will continue.

P methods chapter: Antonio Mallarino and Manjula Nathan, in charge of leading the update of the P methods chapter provided an update of work conducted and indicated they would have a draft later in 2015. Also, Mallarino indicated that his is working together with others on a draft for a regional paper about P management and testing, which was decided is a priority need by this committee and the north-central region universities Extension group.

Proposed Methods Publication Chapters to Revise or New Chapters

The committee discussed options to continue revising the current methods publication chapters and possible new chapters. It was decided to begin working on the following chapters:

Micronutrients chapter revision: Dan Kaiser offered to lead work to update this chapter of the methods book, mainly to include the Mehlich-3 extractant and ICP determination for various extraction methods. The collaboration from other committee members is to be determined.

New correlation/calibration chapter: It was decided to reactivate this subcommittee to focus on including a new “soil-test correlation and calibration” chapter in the Methods publication. Dorivar Ruiz-Diaz offered to lead the work for this with collaboration from Carrie Laboski, others committee members to be determined.

Subcommittee Reports/Updates

a) NAPT representative report: There was no report or discussion because our representative (Brad Joern) could not attend the meeting.

b) Education: The committee decided to continue having this Workshop every other year (next in February 2017) and there was discussion about formalizing better the people in charge of its organization. It was decided that Antonio Mallarino will chair a specific Workshop organization subcommittee with the collaboration of David Franzen and possibly Robert Florence (to be confirmed).

c) Soil sampling: It was decided to re-activate this subcommittee after being inactive for some time. Carrie Laboski will chair it with the collaboration mainly of David Franzen, Daniel Kaiser and Antonio Mallarino.

d) Sulfur: The committee decided to refocus the sulfur subcommittee work to address new issues concerning extraction and determination. David Franzen will chair it with the participation mainly of Carrie Laboski and Renuka Mathur.

e) Website: Manjula Nathan updated the group about the web site, and solicited input from all members to improve it and add more information.

f) pH/Buffer pH: The committee decided to discontinue this subcommittee because the Methods book chapter update was completed recently and there is no related current work by the committee.

g) Moist soil K testing: The committee decided to discontinue this subcommittee because the sample preparation Methods book chapter update was completed recently and there is no related current work by the committee.

h) Remote sensing subcommittee: The committee decided to discontinue this subcommittee because is not within soil testing or plant analysis main objectives.

General Discussion and New Initiatives:

NCERA-13 committee renewal: There was a general informal discussion about objectives for the committee renewal request, which will be due in September 2015. However, no specifics were decided and Chair Ruiz-Diaz plan to continue discussions via teleconference or email during the summer to complete the needed documents by early fall.

Joint soil testing committees meeting: A joint meeting of the soil testing committees like NCERA-13 has been held every three or four years. The last one was held in 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin. It was decided to begin contacts with other regional soil testing committees to organize a joint meeting sometime in 2016.

Soil health measurements: There was much discussion about soil health measurements issues, mainly those related to soil chemical and biological properties, but there was no specific decision as of possible future work by the committee, mainly because expectations of clarification of many issues during the special symposium about this topic that the committee organized for the North-Central Region Soil-Plant Analyst Workshop that will be held right after this meeting ends.

Seasonal soil-test variation: K Franzen and Mallarino continue research work on seasonal K variability and some issues were discussed. Soil sampling and testing should be more frequent (less than 4 years). There is knowledge on the effects of unusual years. More “stable” timing may be spring (but is inconvenient). Mallarino said that data suggests that sampling in early summer (June) when fertilizer wasn’t applied the previous fall or spring is more stable than in the fall or early spring. There was discussion on fall vs spring nitrate testing. There was discussion of creating a subcommittee to focus work on K, pH and N (no major issue for P).

Accomplishments

The North-Central Region Soil-Plant Analyst Workshop 2015 was completed successfully, with strong participation from industry and universities. <br /> <br /> Update of Methods Publication Chapters:<br /> <br /> Sulfur methods chapter was updated. In addition, a regional paper on S management in general is under development. <br /> Organic matter chapter is currently ongoing.<br /> Phosphorus methods chapter is currently ongoing.<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Educational opportunities on soil and plant analysis for private and public sector through the regional workshop organized by NCERA13.
2. Updated website with information on soil and plant analysis methods

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Antonio Mallarino- Iowa State University
Manjula Nathan – University of Missouri
Jon Dahl – Michigan State University
Carrie Laboski – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Robert Florence – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Steve Culman – Ohio State University
Shiny Mathews – North Dakota State University
Brad Joern – Purdue University
Andrew Stammer – Kansas State University
Dorivar Ruiz Diaz – Kansas State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

Publications

Impact Statements

Back to top