NRSP11: Building Collaborative Research Networks to Advance the Science of Soil Fertility: Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST)

(National Research Support Project Summary)

Status: Active

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SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[07/04/2024] [06/29/2025]

Date of Annual Report: 07/04/2024

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 06/03/2024 - 06/03/2024
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2024

Participants

Virtual Attendees (24): Uzair Ahmad, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Carl Bolster, USDA-ARS; Adrian Correndo, University of Guelph; Gerson Drescher, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Robert Flynn, New Mexico State Univ; John Grove, University of Kentucky; Brad Joern, Precision Planting; Gurpreet Kaur, Univ Nebraska; Gene Kim, USDA-NRCS; John Kovar, USDA-ARS; Greg LaBarge, Ohio State Univ; Jay Lessl, Univ of Georgia; Sarah Lyons, Foundation for Agronomic Research; Emma Matchum, Univ of Florida; Stephanie Murphy, Rutgers Univ; Ron Olsen, The Sulfur Institute; Tim Pilkowski, USDA-NRCS; Manbir Rakkar, Ohio State Univ.; Nathan Slaton, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Jared Spackman, Univ of Idaho; Andrew Stammer, Kansas State Univ.; Haiying Tao, Univ Connecticut; Jeff Volenec, Purdue Univ.; & Forbes Walker, Univ. Tennessee
In-person attendees (32): Adotey Nutifafa, Univ. Tennessee; Shannon Alford, Clemson; Tristan Beyrer, The Mosaic Company; Nancy Bohl Bormann, Univ Minnesota; Sylvie Brouder, Purdue Univ.; Greg Buol, North Carolina State Univ.; Isaac Cuchna, North Dakota State Univ.; Chris Czyryca, Collaborative Testing Services; Bronc Finch, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Luke Gatiboni, North Carolina State Univ.; Bryan Hopkins, Brigham Young Univ./North America Proficiency Testing; Javed Iqbal, Univ. Nebraska; John Jones, Univ. Wisconsin; Daniel Kaiser, Univ. Minnesota; Franta Majs, LSU AgCenter; Renuka Mathar, Univ. New Hampshire; Josh McGrath, USDA-ARS; Bob Miller, Collaborative Testing Services/Agricultural Lab Proficiency; Manjula Nathan, Univ. Missouri; Deanna Osmond, North Carolina State Univ.; Rasel Parvej, LSU AgCenter; Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw, West Virginia Univ.; Mike Phillips, Auburn Univ.(CES Director); Amy Shober, Univ Delaware; John Spargo, Penn State Univ.; Vaughn Reed, Mississippi State Univ.; Cheri Villines, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; David Vincent, The Sulfur Institute; Jim Wang, LSU AgCenter; Jean Yvens, Univ. Florida; Matt Yost, Utah State Univ.

Brief Summary of Minutes

9:00 – 9:05 am Welcome, Deanna Osmond

Deanna welcomed all to the first NRSP-11 annual meeting and everyone introduced themselves.

9:05 – 9:35 The Seeds of NRSP-11, John Spargo

John gave a brief overview of Paul Fixen’s efforts through the North Central soil test regional group to harmonize nutrient recommendations. Brad Joern compared recommendations and provided an overview at a number of meetings. In 2018, a meeting of SERA-6, where large differences in southern soil test recommendations were presented, led to a call to action to harmonize soil test recommendations. Fortunately, faculty from the northeast who had been discussing problems associated with different recommendations due to crossing state boundaries were at the SERA6 meeting and helped set the project activities that became known as the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) project. NRSP11 encompasses FRST.

9:35– 10:00 National Database and Archived Data Review and Summary by Regions, Crops, and Nutrients, Nathan Slaton

Nathan summarized the national database of phosphorus and potassium data among regions, crops, and time (since 2003 and before 2003) highlighting the need for additional data from the northeast and western regions and for crops other than corn and soybean which comprises 82-85% of the nearly 2600 trials in the database. He emphasized the need for collaborators to continue contributing data and the importance of the NRCS-CIG-funded projects. Some crop data is either more than 20 years old (e.g., cotton), sparse (e.g., alfalfa, potato, forages), or non-existent (e.g,. peanut). He also showed the diversity of soil test level numbers (0-6 depending on state) and terms (14 different terms) used by land grant institutions’ recommendations, with some terms interpreted differently regarding fertilizer recommendations.

10:00– 10:20 P & K Minimum Dataset and Template Use Discussion, Deanna Osmond Moderate

Deanna gave an overview of the survey around the minimum dataset. Approximately 40% of the individuals who did soil fertility trials for FRST participated in the survey. For the most part, the soil parameters are what the researchers normally collect. They provided all of the required information and some of the recommended data. On average, using the minimum dataset costs more for the trial, probably due to the cost of determining carbon or OM. Finally, 50% of the respondents will use the minimum dataset excel spreadsheet, 20% will not, and 30% may use it. We will add this presentation to soiltestfrst.org.

10:20 – 10:30 Break

10:30 – 11:00 Sulfur Minimum Dataset Update & Discussion, Matt Yost

Matt provided an overview of the sulfur (S) minimum dataset activity. The committee has been formed and began meeting. The committee decided to put together a sulfur database even though it is not clear that soil testing for S is useful. Matt has found 505 trials to add to the database, which will consist of the minimum dataset plus a few more parameters such as texture, S source, etc.

11:00 – 11:40 Committee Updates

Soil Depth Report, Steve Culman, No report given – no additional progress since last report given in FRST Collaborator meeting

Calibration Committee Report, Luke Gatiboni, Luke presented a short PowerPoint outlining several calibration options using 4 datasets (Olsen P, Mehlich-1 K, Mehlich-3 K, and Bray-1 P) to evaluate 4 methods of placing site-years data into bins defined by the CSTV and a stepwise multiple regression method. This preliminary work needed to be done before a committee meeting was established. A survey will be sent to the calibration committee to establish the first committee meeting.

Lime Committee Reports, John Jones/Bob Miller/Amy Shober, Bob Miller is currently collecting soil samples for the lime incubation trials with a target of 120 total soils. The lime calibration committee chaired by Amy Shober has met once. Amy will send out a survey to get some direction on lime incubation methods [Ca(OH)₂ vs reagent grade CaCO₃], number of lime rates, different lime rates for different soil textures, etc.) before the next meeting which will focus on developing incubation protocols. John Jones reported that a draft of the lime survey is prepared but needs additional review.

Regional CIG Reports, Huijie Gan, Jim Wang, Matt Yost, & Daniel Kaiser, North Central and West have not heard about funding of their CIG proposals. Research from the Northeast and South projects funded in 2023 is underway.

11:40– 12:00 Business Meeting, Leadership/Officer appointments and Misc. NRSP Business, Slaton (Administrative Advisor) & Osmond (NRSP11 Project Lead)

There was no Old Business. The business meeting focused on how leadership for NRSP11 would be structured. Deanna Osmond is listed as the Technical Leadership/Editor and she is retiring June 30, 2024. The group discussed having a past chair, chair, and chair-elect to ensure continuity of leadership across time, and the NRSP11 chairs would interact with the FRST executive committee in planning NRSP activities including the annual meeting. Two models were discussed: 1) rotating the leadership alphabetically through the states or 2) nomination of leadership. The NRSP-11 membership agreed unanimously that leadership should be nominated. Luke Gatiboni was nominated as chair, but nominations were left open to allow others to be nominated. Also, we need to nominate an in-coming chair. A communication will be sent out via email soliciting other nominations. [Virtual elections were held - Luke Gatiboni (NCSU) will serve as incoming chair, and Rasel Parvej (LSU AgCenter) will serve as vice-chair, and Deanna Osmond (NCSU) will serve as past chair.]

The annual meeting format was discussed. The annual meeting will either be held virtually or planned to coincide with a regional soil test multistate group meeting or another meeting where members will be present.

The scheduled monthly Zoom meetings will continue to serve as interim meetings for FRST and NRSP11. Attendees were all encouraged to visit the NIMSS website and enroll as official members. Instructions for joining are always included in the FRST monthly collaborator meeting notes which are emailed to 100+ people each month.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments Members of NRSP11 were active in promoting the FRST decision aid, performing webinars and presenting at stakeholder meetings to educate clients on soil fertility and soil testing, and provide updates on other project activities at local, state, national, & international meetings and social media. A total of 23 presentations have been made since FRST was named as NRSP11 (list below + 8 symposium presentations listed above in 2d) <ul> <li> <ol> <li>Osmond, D. (2023). Harmonizing Soil Test Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool. CCA Training, AL., December 12, 2023. Auburn, AL. <a href="about:blank">https://alabamacrop.net/</a> </li> <li>Spargo, J.T. (2024). Modernizing Fertilizer Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Project. Pennsylvania Agronomic Education Course, 18-19 January 2024 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Boalsburg, PA. <a href="https://agsci.psu.edu/paes/2024-paes-conference">https://agsci.psu.edu/paes/2024-paes-conference</a></li> <li>Slaton, N.A., Parvej, R., and Reed, V. (2024). Understanding your Soil Test Recommendations. 27th Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference. Embassy Suites at Jonesboro, AR. 30 January 2024. <a href="https://www.flipsnack.com/mafgnet/nctd-conference-book-2024/full-view.html">https://www.flipsnack.com/mafgnet/nctd-conference-book-2024/full-view.html</a></li> <li>Slaton, N., D. Kaiser, D. Osmond, J. Spargo, and M. Yost. (2024). Minimum Dataset Development: Experiences from FRST. FFAR Efficient Fertilizer Consortium Convening Event, January 22-23, 2024. Washington, DC.</li> <li>Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Kaiser, S., Kleinman, P., & Buol, G. (2024, February 21). The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Overview: A Living Project [Oral Presentation]. Mid-Atlantic Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Working Meeting. Raleigh, NC</li> <li>Popp, M. (2024, March 5). Economics of K Fertilizer Rate Recommendations [Oral Presentation]. Agricultural Testing Laboratory Association (ALTA) Webinar. <a href="https://alta.ag/alta-webinars">https://alta.ag/alta-webinars</a></li> <li>Parvej, R. (2024, March 26). Correlation and Calibration of Soil-Test Phosphorus and Potassium from Different Soil Depths with Soybean Yield [Oral Presentation]. Agricultural Testing Laboratory Association (ALTA) Webinar. <a href="about:blank">https://alta.ag/alta-webinars</a>  </li> <li>Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Kaiser, D., & Buol, G. (2024, April 29-30). The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST): A National Soil Test Initiative [Oral Presentation]. Soil Science Society North Carolina Annual Meeting, Raliegh, NC.</li> <li>Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Kaiser, D., Kleinman, P., & Buol, G. (2024, May 19-21). United States (U.S.) Efforts to Align Soil Test Phosphorus and Potassium Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) [Oral Presentation]. International Union of Soil Science Centennial Meeting. Florence, Italy.</li> <li>Spargo, J.T. (2024, May 28). Current Status of US Soil Test Phosphorus and Potassium Recommendations and Analytical Methods [Oral Presentation]. Agricultural Testing Laboratory Association (ALTA) Webinar <a href="https://alta.ag/alta-webinars">https://alta.ag/alta-webinars</a></li> <li>Slaton, N.A., Buol, G., Osmond, D., Spargo, J.T., Yost, M., & Kaiser, D., (2024, May 22). Soil Test Correlation Fundamentals and using the FRST Decision Aid. USDA-NRCS Water Quality Wednesdays Webinar</li> <li>Gatiboni, L. (2024, June 25) Drawdown of soil phosphorus by crop removal: A meta-analysis of fields with halted fertilization [Oral Presentation]. Agricultural Testing Laboratory Association (ALTA) Webinar <a href="https://alta.ag/alta-webinars">https://alta.ag/alta-webinars</a></li> <li>Slaton, N.A., Osmond, D, Spargo, J.T., Yost, M., Kaiser, D., Buol, G., Ahmad, U., & Gatiboni, L. (2024, July 21-24). Modernizing Fertilizer Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Project [Poster]. Soil and Water Conservation Society Meeting. Myrtle Beach, SC.</li> <li>Slaton, N.A. (2024) Food, Farms & Forests Podcast by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-fertilizer-decision-tool-could-save-farmers-money/id1597122912?i=1000655435532">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-fertilizer-decision-tool-could-save-farmers-money/id1597122912?i=1000655435532</a></li> <li>Kellums, K. (Host) & Slaton, N.A. (2024, 28 June 2024) UA scientist helps develop web-based soil database for farmers, scientists. Ozarks at Large Podcast. <a href="about:blank">https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large</a></li> </ol> </li> <li>In 2023, the NRSP11 Project received funding from NRCS totaling nearly $1.5 million for an umbrella project ($630,861) led by scientists at the University of Arkansas (Slaton) and NC State University (Gatiboni, Buol, and Osmond) and two regional projects involving multiple states in the Northeast and South regions lead by Dr. Jim Wang (LSU AgCenter, $437,996) and Haiying Tao (Univ Connecticut, $553,413) to conduct soil-test correlation and calibration field trials to populate the FRST national database with current data. Two additional CIG proposals associated with the umbrella proposal were submitted by NRSP11 participants from the North Central (Dan Kaiser, Univ Minnesota) and Western (Matt Yost, Utah State Univ.) Regions for 2024 funding consideration. <a href="about:blank">https://cig.sc.egov.usda.gov/cig-fiscal-year-2022-awards</a>.  This addresses Objectives 5 and 8 in Outline.</li> <li>The primary accomplishment of the NRSP11 was launching the decision support aid (<a href="about:blank">https://frst.scinet.usda.gov/tool</a>) in early April 2024. The tool interacts with a database containing 2500+ soil-test correlation field trials investigating crop yield response to phosphorus or potassium fertilization. The tool models user-selected data to determine a critical soil test value above which a significant and positive yield response to fertilization is no longer expected. A press release was prepared, coordinated among participating institutions, and launched on 8 April 2024 along with social media. See Objective 8 in Project Outline.</li> <li>The committee for developing the model to fit soil-test correlation data completed its objectives by applying a quadratic plateau model to soil-test correlation data and published the paper (see publications). See Objective 7 in Project Outline.</li> <li>A survey to better understand how stakeholders use soil testing information was developed and launched in early 2024 via social media and launched again in June 2024 to CCAs using services from the American Society of Agronomy. The survey will stay active through the summer and be summarized in the fall/winter of 2024. New Objective added in 2023-24.</li> <li>The NRSP11 hosted a well-attended (>100 attendees) symposium at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting held in St. Louis, MO (29 October – 1 November 2023) with eight (8) presentations from participating faculty at land grant universities and industry as listed below. This is part of our national emphasis on highlighting soil-testing issues that cross state boundaries and encouraging multi-institution collaboration on national issues.</li> <li> <ol> <li>Osmond, D. Slaton, N.A., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Kaiser, D., Kleinman, P., and Buol, G. (2023). The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Overview</li> <li>Spargo, J.T., S.E. Lyons, J.D. Clark, D.L. Osmond, R. Parvej, A.W. Pearce, and N.A. Slaton. (2023). Current Status of US Soil Test Phosphorus and Potassium Recommendations and Analytical Methods.</li> <li>Culman, S., J. Spargo, D. Osmond, N. Slaton, and P. Kleinman. (2023). How to account for soil stratification when comparing fertilizer recommendations based on different soil depths?</li> <li>Yost, M. A., Blaylock, A. D., Rogers, C. W., & Tarkalson, D. D. (2023). What’s Happening in the West: Fertilizer Recommendation Trends and Opportunities.</li> <li>Jones, J. D., Sikora, F. J., & Miller, R. O. (2023). Comparative Survey of U.S. State Liming Recommendation Systems.</li> <li>Slaton, N. A., Gatiboni, L., Pearce, A., Osmond, D. L., Bolster, C. H., Clark, J., Ruiz Diaz, D. A., Dhillon, J. S., Farmaha, B. S., Kaiser, D. E., Lyons, S. E., Margenot, A. J., Miguez, F., Moore, A. D., Sotomayor, D., Spackman, J. A., Spargo, J. T., & Yost, M. A. (2023). The Journey to Defining the Critical Soil Test Value for FRST.</li> <li>Buol, G., Lyons, S. E., Osmond, D. L., Slaton, N. A., Spargo, J. T., Kleinman, P. J. A., Yost, M. A., & Kaiser, D. E. (2023). The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Database and Web-Based Decision Aid.</li> <li>Lacey, C. and D. Sawyer. (2023). Agricultural Laboratory Testing Association: S Soil Testing Industry Perspective</li> </ol> </li> <li>Project Staffing includes 2 post-doctoral fellows who were hired in July and August 2023 and another was hired in July 2024 (as a replacement) with a January 2025 start date. The postdocs are instrumental in writing papers, performing statistical analysis, and developing data templates for uploading to the national database.</li> <li>Three social media posts to X (Twitter) about the launch of the decision aid were made between February and July 2024 totaling 5,171 impressions, 400 engagements, and 168 expands. At least seven different land grant university communication departments issued a coordinated press release on the launch of the FRST decision aid that was picked up by numerous local, state, and national media outlets.</li> <li>Collaboration with individuals in private Industry has been incorporated into FRST which will increase our visibility, provide valued stakeholder input to improve the FRST decision aid, and enhance the use of the decision aid for developing and making soil-test-based fertilizer-P and K recommendations. Collaboration among land grant universities continues to be strong with 8 peer-reviewed journal papers having 47 unique authors and the published national survey dataset including 65 authors. Short-term outcome.</li> <li>The FRST project published 7 papers between 2020 and 2023 that are highly visible with Altimetric Attention Scores of “Good” to “High”, and a total of 46 citations (range 1-13). These statistics show the papers are of interest and potentially influence the science of soil test correlation (data from Journal information available online). Likewise, between April 1 and June 30 the FRST webpage was viewed 1,744 times and the decision aid was viewed 1,103 times by 1,586 users. Short-term outcomes</li> <li>Future Plans for 2024-2025 include summarizing the data collected from the national survey, finalizing analysis of the soil depth data led by Steve Culman (Washington State Univ.), finalizing analysis of western P and K recommendations led by Matt Yost, publishing a paper on the lime rate survey comparing lime requirement methods and recommendations for six soils among land grant universities (Led by John Jones, Univ. Illinois), initiating a laboratory study from soil collected by Bob Miller using protocols established by the Lime Calibration committee (led by Amy Shober), and planning a symposium for the Fall 2025 ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting that will be held in Salt Lake City, UT. We also intend to add features to The FRST decision aid including the probability of a positive response to fertilization that complements the correlation using relative yield and continuing to recruit industry representatives as participants in NRSP11. Additional output will occur for the current reporting year (Oct 2023-Sept 2024) as FRST members will give at least two webinars for ALTA and a presentation will be given at the August 2024 ALTA Summer meeting.</li> <li>Since the establishment of NRSP11 on 1 October 2023, members of the FRST project have collaboratively published one (1) peer-reviewed journal article, two (2) dataset publications, one (1) fact sheet, twenty-three (23) presentations, two (2) podcasts (see 2f), organized one (1) symposium at an international meeting, made >15 scholarly presentations at local to international events, and developed the Decision Support Tool. <ol> <li>Buol, G., Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Lyons, S., Pearce, A., Uthman, Q., Yost, M., & Kaiser, D. (2024). Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, V 1.0.0.0. FRST-Tool Page (usda.gov) <a href="about:blank">https://soiltestfrst.org/</a></li> </ol> </li> <li>Activities In 2023-2024, committees with representatives from each region were launched to <ol> <li>investigate a lime calibration project (led by Amy Shober, Univ Delaware);</li> <li>developing a minimum dataset for sulfur (led by Matt Yost, Utah State Univ);</li> <li>model calibration data to develop data-based P- and K-rate recommendations (led by Luke Gatiboni, North Carolina State Univ.);</li> <li>refine the decision support tool programming (e.g., programming committee; led by Greg Buol, North Carolina State University);</li> <li>seek literature and additional data to populate the database, especially for underrepresented states and crops; and</li> <li>review soil test terms and fertilizer recommendation strategies used by land grant institutions</li> </ol> </li> </ul> <ol> <li>Milestones <ol> <li>The FRST decision aid was launched on 8 April 2024 and is available for public use</li> <li>The soil test correlation modeling paper was accepted for publication on 4 May 2024</li> </ol> </li> </ol>

Publications

Publications: The NRSP11 Project produced one (1) peer-reviewed paper published in the Soil Science Society of America Journal; one (1) fact sheet published on the FRST website; two (2) datasets, and one (1) user guide for the FRST Decision Support Tool. Note the listed publications are efforts exclusive or directly related to the FRST activities and do not include publications of individual member research projects. <ul> <li>Filippi, D., Gatiboni, L., Crozier, C., Osmond, D., & Hardy, D. (2024). Corn response to potassium rates during three cropping years in North Carolina. Ag Data Commons. Dataset. <a href="https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25035980.v1">https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/25035980.v1</a> </li> <li>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, XX, <a href="about:blank">https://doi.org/10. 10.1002/saj2.20704</a></li> <li>Slaton, N. A.; Uthman, Q. (2024). Bermudagrass forage response to phosphorus and potassium fertilization. Ag Data Commons Dataset. <a href="about:blank">https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/24978027.v1</a> </li> <li>Slaton, N.A., Pearce, A., Gatiboni, L., & Osmond. (2024) Fact Sheet #6 – Modeling Soil Test Correlation Data. <a href="about:blank">https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/critical-soil-test-value/</a></li> <li>Buol, G., Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Lyons, S., Pearce, A., Uthman, Q., Yost, M., & Kaiser, D. (2024). Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, V 1.0. 0.0. <a href="about:blank">https://frst.scinet.usda.gov/manual</a></li> </ul>

Impact Statements

Visits to the FRST website and decision aid (the FRST webpage was viewed 1,744 times and the FRST decision aid was viewed 1,103 times by 1,586 users between April 1 and June 30) illustrates significant stakeholder and researcher interest in the science behind soil test-based fertilizer recommendations. The high visibility and citation (46 citations since 2000) of seven peer-reviewed papers (excluding the CSTV modeling paper that was just published) confirm interest by the scientific community. The use of print media, press releases, and social media has increased awareness of soil testing and the FRST Project as a resource for all users of soil testing from farmers to companies that develop crop fertilization programs to researchers who model data. The impact of collating data from more than 2,500 phosphorus and potassium fertilization trials into a national database is important to highlight even though its impact will be hard to document for several years. These data are often left unpublished. Over time the data and metadata that form the foundation of many states’ soil-test-based fertilization recommendations are lost due to faculty turnover, poor data management skills, and the shrinking numbers of scientists involved in traditional, agronomic soil fertility. The accessible national database will be a source of information for years, help identify the crops and geographical areas where new data needs to be collected, and facilitate new research on soil test correlation.
The impact of FRST’s collaborative nature is difficult to measure, but the project has included 47 different scientists on 8 peer-reviewed papers, 65 scientists who contributed to a national survey dataset published in Ag Data Commons, and numerous other scientists not included in the above numbers who are currently serving on newly formed committees or who have been helped publish data in Ag Data Commons. The FRST Project is collaborative and inclusive, provides discipline-specific mentoring, and provides training for young scientists who often have little or no experience in soil test correlation and calibration.

Date of Annual Report: 06/29/2025

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 06/09/2025 - 06/09/2025
Period the Report Covers: 07/01/2024 - 06/30/2025

Participants

Virtual Attendees (28): Carl Bolster (USDA), Sylvie Brouder (Purdue), Daniela Carrijo (Penn State Univ), Gerson Drescher (Univ Arkansas), Don Edralin (NC Dept of Agric and Consumer Services), Bhupinder Farmaha (Clemson), Quirine Ketterings (Cornell), Dan Keiser (Univ Minnesota), Sandeep Kumar (NIFA), Sarah Lyons (FFAR), Emma Matcham (Ohio State), Renuka Mathur (Univ New Hampshire), Rao Mylavarapu (Univ Florida), Josh McGrath (USDA), Stephanie Murphy (Rutgers), Nathan Nelson (Kansas State), Manbir Rakkar (Ohio State), Mark Reiter (Virginia Tech), Raj Singh (Univ Arkansas), John Spargo (Penn State), Tales Tiecher (Guest Speaker), Haiying Tao (Univ Connecticut), Teferi Tsegaye (USDA), Jeff Volanec (Purdue), Forbes Walker (Univ Tennessee), Jim Wang (LSU), Candiss Williams (USDA-NRCS), & Matt Yost (Utah State Univ)

In-person attendees (18): Nutifafa Adotey (Univ Tennessee), Shannon Alford (Clemson), Megan Bourns (Univ. Arkansas), Greg Buol NC State), John Filippi (NC State), Bronc Finch (Univ Arkansas), Bryan Hopkins (BYU), Luke Gatiboni (NC State), J. Grove (Univ Kentucky), Bob. Miller (Agri. Lab Proficiency), Amber Moore (Oregon State), Deanna Osmond NC State), Rasel Parvej (Univ Missouri), Austin Pearce (Field to Market), Eugenia Pena (West Virginia), Vaughn Reed (Mississippi State), Nathan Slaton (Univ Arkansas), & Amy Shober (Univ Delaware)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Summary of Annual Meeting Minutes

9:00 – 9:05 am Welcome, Luke Gatiboni (NCSU)

9:05 – 10:00 Phosphorus and potassium fertilizer recommendations in Brazil and Paraguay: convergences, divergences, and paths towards harmonization. Dr. Tales Tiecher, Associate Professor at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Presentation overview: Dr. Tales Tiecher compared phosphorus and potassium fertilizer recommendation systems across Brazil and Paraguay, highlighting significant variability due to diverse soil and climate conditions. He noted overlapping systems, especially in southern Brazil, and emphasized the need for harmonization to improve fertilizer efficiency and environmental outcomes. Despite methodological similarities, differences in nomenclature, critical levels, and consideration of factors like clay content and soil exchange capacity contribute to inconsistencies. Dr. Tiecher advocated for a shift from class-based to equation-based models to enhance comparability. He also discussed efforts to standardize soil testing methods, inspired by U.S. practices and the FRST Project. A soil test working group has been formed in Brazil to review testing criteria. He explained that clay content is measured routinely using the pipette method in Brazil and Paraguay. The group also discussed regional variations in clay minerals and their impact on potassium recommendations, with Tales noting the need for further research to account for these differences. Additionally, he emphasized the importance of soil acidity management, stating that lime recommendations are based on achieving a pH of 6 or higher to prevent aluminum toxicity and improve phosphorus availability. The presentation concluded with a discussion on the transition from public to private soil testing labs in Brazil and the significance of sampling depth in no-till systems due to nutrient stratification.

10:00– 10:20 Survey of soil sampling info Dr. Megan Bourns, Post-doctoral Fellow University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture

Megan Bourns presented the findings from the optional section of a survey on soil testing practices for P and K fertilizer decisions across the US. The survey, conducted in early 2024, received responses from 173 stakeholders, including farmers, consultants, agronomists, and public sector employees with the final 9 questions focused on soil sampling practices and use of grid sampling and variable rate fertilization practices. Key results included that soil sampling practices sometimes change based on whether land is owned or leased, with October/November being the most common sampling time. The survey revealed that while soil testing is considered important by respondents, there may be gaps in its routine use and implementation, particularly among farmers. Megan noted that future research could explore factors influencing soil testing adoption and the relationship between sampling frequency and cost.

10:20-10:30 Update on Database and Collaborator Survey, Nathan Slaton, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture

Nathan Slaton reviewed the number of trials in the relational database which is now more than 3100 and there are a number of trials that have been completed in templates that are in queue for uploading. He also reviewed the collaborator survey from spring 2025 regarding how collaborators are using the FRST decision aid. About one-half of the FRST collaborators (40) who responded have used the tool in their professional job duties for teaching college classes, stakeholder presentation, professional presentations and developing or validating recommendations. The discussion about data included the need for recent trial data and collaboration to improve the database's robustness, while also discussing the challenges of processing legacy data and the development of templates for sulfur trials. The team is working on publishing the database in the next year and is considering additional features for the tool.

10:30 – 11:10 Committee updates (5 minutes each)

Soil Depth Report – John Spargo (virtual) for Steve Culman, Penn State Univ. Steve plans to have a manuscript completed this summer on the main part of the soil depth project The committee is narrowing its focus to address primary objectives and is planning a meeting in June to review the final manuscript plan.

Calibration Committee Report - Luke Gatiboni, North Carolina State Univ. The calibration committee continues to examine the final models that were selected to move forward with and are developing a manuscript. More details will be presented in the FRST Symposium Session scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Lime Calibration Report - Amy Shober/Bob Miller/Raj Singh, Univ Delaware/ALP/Univ Ark. The group discussed soil incubation protocols based on the pilot study results which suggested that an 8-day incubation period was sufficient for calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide. Both lime materials showed consistent results for lime rates that increased pH up to pH 7.0. The 8- day incubation avoided the need for a lot of labor and multiple water content adjustments. About 2/3 of the soils have been delivered to Arkansas. The incubation trials will start soon and include 5 lime rates. The team also discussed soil testing methods to characterize the soils. John Spargo confirmed the completed 1:1 soil pH and modified Mehlich-3 buffer.

Sulfur Minimum Dataset and Database - Matt Yost (virtual), Utah State Univ.

Matt Yost provided an update on the sulfur committee's work, noting progress on developing a minimum data set for sulfur studies and plans to publish a manuscript outlining recommendations for future sulfur research. The template is being worked on to add soil test methods and improve instructions before it is officially released. Sulfur has been added to the tool but only in beta testing mode. Sulfur will be available on the public-facing tool once the database is more robust. There are currently ~170 S trials in the database.

Regional CIG Reports

Northeast - Haiying Tao, Univ. of Connecticut (virtual) Haiying presented the Northeast regional report, highlighting participating states, planned and conducted field experiments, and challenges such as soil fertility and extreme weather.

South - Jim Wang, Louisiana State Univ. (virtual) Jim provided an overview of the South regional project, focusing on phosphorus and potassium calibration, winter cover crop incorporation, and ongoing trials across multiple states.

North Central - Daniel Kaiser (virtual), Univ of Minnesota. The NC project is in its first year so there was not much to report.

11:10– 11:30 NRSP11 Highlights review, Business Meeting, Leadership/Officer appointments, and Misc. NRSP Business, Luke Gatiboni (NRSP11 Project Lead) and Administrative Advisor(s) comments

The scheduled monthly Zoom meetings will continue to serve as interim meetings for NRSP11. Attendees were encouraged to visit the NIMSS website and enroll as official members. Instructions for joining are always included in the FRST monthly collaborator meeting notes which are emailed to 120+ people each month. Luke highlighted project outputs, including publications, database growth, and collaborative efforts, and proposed a two-year term for leadership positions to ensure stable leadership transitions. The motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously for 2-year leadership terms.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments: Following the official release of the FRST decision aid the FRST Project activities have focused on developing decision aid features, expanding and populating the database, and addressing other aspects of the FRST project, which are outlined below.  <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Sulfur was added as the third element to the database in October 2024. The database currently contains 173 S trials and needs to be expanded before S is added as an option to the public-facing tool.  Matt Yost led the initiative to establish a minimum dataset for S and develop a template for collecting and uploading S trial data. A Fact Sheet on the minimum requirements for legacy dataset collection was prepared and uploaded on the website in late 2024.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">A paper summarizing the soil pH and lime requirement methods and describing the variance in lime recommendations for 6 soils was submitted for review in December 2024. The paper was submitted to the Soil Science Society of America Journal. This project was led by John Jones, Bob Miller, and Nathan Slaton. The paper is in review.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">A paper documenting the FRST tool and database was developed and published in April 2025.  Megan Bourns led this effort.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Results of a nationwide survey to aid in our understanding of how independent and industry consultants use soil test information was summarized and the manuscript was prepared and submitted for peer review. Nathan Slaton and Megan Bourns led this effort.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">130+ soils were collected by collaborators across the USA for a lime calibration study. Soil collection was led by Bob Miller. A pilot trial was initiated with 3 soils examining soil pH change across time as affected by incubation times and lime sources. Data is being analyzed and used to guide a larger incubation trial. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">North Central Region NRCS CIG Grant was awarded $1,320,416 for the proposal Enhancing Tools to Manage Phosphorus in Agricultural Fields in the Northcentral Region to Reduce the Risk Loss to Surface Waters: A Project Supporting the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) led by Daniel Kaiser with univ Minnesota plus involvement from Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. <a href="https://cig.sc.egov.usda.gov/impact/conservation-innovation-grants-awards-fiscal-year-2023">https://cig.sc.egov.usda.gov/impact/conservation-innovation-grants-awards-fiscal-year-2023</a></li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Members of NRSP11 were active in promoting the FRST decision aid, performing webinars and presenting at stakeholder meetings to educate clients on soil fertility and soil testing, and educate on other project activities at local, state, national, & international meetings and social media. <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A., Osmond, D, Spargo, J.T., Yost, M., Kaiser, D., Buol, G., Ahmad, U., & Gatiboni, L. (2024). Modernizing Fertilizer Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Project [Poster]. Soil and Water Conservation Society Meeting.  Myrtle Beach, SC.  21-24 July 2024.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Jones, J. (2024) Variations in state lime recommendations [Oral Presentation]. Agricultural Testing Laboratory Association (ALTA) Webinar <a href="https://alta.ag/alta-webinars">https://alta.ag/alta-webinars</a> 30 July 2024 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Howell, M. (Host) & Slaton, N.A. (2024). Episode 22: The FRST Step to Optimizing Fertilizer Use. The Dirt Podcast.  <a href="https://nutrien-ekonomics.com/news/type/podcasts/">The Dirt PodKast Archives - eKonomics</a>. 31 July 2024 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A., Buol, G., Osmond, D., Spargo, J., Kaiser, D., Yost, M., & Gatiboni, L. (2024). Soil Test Correlation Modeling Decisions for the FRST Decision Aid. Agricultural Laboratory Testing Association Summer Annual Meeting. Normal, IL. 19-20 August 2024. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Osmond, D. (2024). Lessons Learned Controlling Agricultural Phosphorus at the Watershed Scale: Assessment, Planning, and Implementation.  2024 Fall Phosphorus Science and Emerging Research Workshop, Hosted by Agriculture Nutrient Policy Council. Washington D.C. 1 October 2024. 3</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Gatiboni, L. (2024). Soil Fertility Training including FRST as an information resource. North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Raleigh, North Carolina. 7 Nov. 2024 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N. A., Osmond, D. L., Spargo, J. T., Buol, G., Yost, M. A., Kaiser, D. E., & Gatiboni, L. (2024). Identifying Knowledge Gaps and Improving Crop Potassium Fertilization Recommendations Using the FRST National Database [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. 11 Nov 2024 <a href="https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2024am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/160175">https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2024am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/160175</a>   </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A. (2024). Update on FRST/NRSP11 activities. The Fertilizer Institute Research Committee Meeting. San Antonio, TX. 12 November 2024 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A. (2024). Update on FRST/NRSP11 activities. SERA-17 Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. 14 November 2024 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A. (2025) Soil Test Round Table Discussion. MidAmerica Farmer Grower Rice and Cotton Conservation Tillage Conference. 27 January 2025 Memphis, TN </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Clark, J. (2025) FRST Update. Minnesota Valley Testing Labs Annual Winter Meeting. Northwood, IA. 30 January 2025 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Spargo, J. (2025). Modernizing Fertilizer Recommendations: The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Project. 76th Corn Improvement Conference. State College, Pennsylvania. 6 February 2025 </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N. (2025). FRST Update. NCERA013 Soil Testing Workshop. Coralville, IA. 25 February 2025. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Yost, M., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Kaiser, D., Gatiboni, L., & Osmond, D. (2025).  What you need to know about the national fertilizer recommendation team called FRST. WERA-103 Annual Meeting. Reno, NV. 4 March 2025. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Gatiboni, L. (2025). Soil test correlation and calibration for agricultural crops. May 22, 2025. Technical University – Agrarian Campus; Chisinau, Moldova. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A. (2025). An Overview of the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool Project Activities [Session 2: Soil Test Calibration; Oral]. 18th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis. Advancing Agricultural Science for Global Sustainability. June 9-13, 2025. Durham, North Carolina, USA. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Bourns, M. (2025). Soil Test-based Recommendations: Utility, Gaps, and Opportunities – Findings from a Stakeholder Survey [Session 2: Soil Test Calibration; Oral]. 18th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis. Advancing Agricultural Science for Global Sustainability. June 9-13, 2025. Durham, North Carolina, USA. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Buol, G. (2025). Estimating Probability of Relative Crop Yield Loss Based on Soil Test Phosphorus or Potassium Results Using a Non-Parametric Approach. [Session 2: Soil Test Calibration; Oral]. 18th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis. Advancing Agricultural Science for Global Sustainability. June 9-13, 2025. Durham, North Carolina, USA. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Gatiboni, L. (2025). Relating Soil Test Value to Fertilizer Rate: Approaches for Soil Test Calibration [Session 2: Soil Test Calibration; Oral]. 18th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis. Advancing Agricultural Science for Global Sustainability. June 9-13, 2025. Durham, North Carolina, USA. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Shober, A. (2025) Improving Lime Recommendations Across the U.S. [Session 2: Soil Test Calibration; Oral]. 18th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis. Advancing Agricultural Science for Global Sustainability. June 9-13, 2025. Durham, North Carolina, USA. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Slaton, N.A. (2025). Update on NRSP11/FRST Project. SERA-17 Annual Meeting. Virtual. 25 June 2025</li> </ol> </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Project Staffing: Post-doctoral fellows Megan Bourns and Rajveer Singh started 2 January 2 and 7 April 2025, respectively. The FRST Executive Committee changed with Deanna Osmond’s retirement. Deanna was replaced on the executive committee by Luke Gatiboni (NCSU). </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Social Media – no posts to social media since last report</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Collaboration with individuals in private Industry has been incorporated into FRST, We currently have private industry collaborators in the NRSP11 from FFAR, Precision Planting, and Rock River Laboratories, and collaborate with the Agricultural Lab Proficiency Coordinator and the Agricultural Lab Testing Association leadership on FRST activities.  Other private industry collaborations involve representatives that regularly attend the meetings but are not officially listed in NIMSS as NRSP11 participants and include individuals from Calcium Products Inc., The Fertilizer Institute, The Sulfur Institute, OCP, North America, Phospholutions, and the Nature Conservancy, Short-term outcome. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Plans for 2025-2026 include  <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Publishing the data from the national consultant/farmer survey, activity led by Megan Bourns </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Publishing a paper and data from the soil sampling depth activity led by Steve Culman (Washington State Univ.) </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Publishing a paper on the pilot lime study comparing Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 lime calibration curves, manuscript development led by Rajveer Singh </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Publishing a paper on the lime rate survey comparing lime requirement methods and recommendations for six soils among land grant universities (Led by John Jones, Univ. Illinois) </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Publishing the soil test correlation and calibration data that has been accumulated in the relational database in Ag Data Commons.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Initiating and completing a laboratory study from 120+ soils collected by Bob Miller and collaborators using protocols established by the Lime Calibration committee and publishing the dataset, led by Amy Shober, Bob Miller & Rajveer Singh.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Planning a symposium for the Fall 2025 ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting that will be held in Salt Lake City, UT.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Finalizing analysis of western P and K recommendations led by Matt Yost,  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Add a calibration model to the FRST decision tool </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Seek funding to add a model for the probability of a positive response to fertilization that complements the correlation using relative yield  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Continue to recruit industry representatives as participants in NRSP11. </li> </ol> </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Outputs   <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Since 1 October 2024, members of the FRST project have collaboratively published one (1) peer-reviewed journal article with another in peer review, created or revised five (5) fact sheets, updated the FRST user manual, organized one (1) symposium at an international meeting, and made 20+ scholarly presentations at local to international events. Fact Sheet and peer-reviewed paper references are provided in the Publications section. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/">Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool</a> website continues to be a source of information and includes our publications, fact sheets, and links to the tool and user manual.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">We hold monthly planning meetings for the executive team and monthly collaborator meetings that are attended by 30-40 FRST participants featuring one or two presentations informing the group of research or topics related to soil-test-based nutrient management. The collaborator meetings are foundational to our objective of creating a community of practice.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The two foundational outputs of NRSP11 are the relational database and the decision support tool or <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/">Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool</a>. The relational database now has data from more than 3000 trials from the 50 US states and Puerto Rico and continues to grow as “growing the database” is a major objective for NRSP11. The web-based decision support tool is readily available for public use.   </li> </ol> </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Activities In 2024-2025, committees with representatives from each region were launched to  <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Investigate a lime calibration project (Led by Amy Shober, Univ Delaware),  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Develop a minimum dataset for sulfur (Led by Matt Yost, Utah State Univ),  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Model calibration data to develop data-based P- and K-rate recommendations (Led by Luke Gatiboni, North Carolina State Univ.)  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Refine the decision support tool programming (e.g., programming committee; Led by Greg Buol, North Carolina State University).  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Seek literature and additional data to populate the database, especially for underrepresented states and crops (Bourns, Singh, & Collaborators) </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Review soil test terms and fertilizer recommendation strategies used by land grant institutions (Slaton, Univ. Arkansas) </li> </ol> </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Milestones  <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The relational database has exceeded 3,150 trials </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Sulfur was added as a 3rd nutrient to the relational database </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Lime survey data were developed into a paper and submitted for peer review </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The pilot lime study was completed </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">137 soils were collected from across the USA for a calibration trial which was launched in May 2025 </li> </ol> </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Impacts <ol> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The FRST webpage was viewed 35,000 times by 4,200 users (761 returning users) and the FRST decision aid was viewed 2,000 times by 1,300 users between 3 July 2024 and 26 June 2025 supporting significant stakeholder and researcher interest in the science behind soil-test-based fertilizer recommendations. Users are from 118 different countries but primarily from the USA (65%), India (10%), Canada (3%), Philippines (~2%), and Brazil (~2 %).  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Four proposals (1 umbrella proposal and 3 regional proposals) originating from FRST initiatives have been awarded $2.9 million by NRCS. FRST Collaborators have been supported by ~$0.9 million of funding and in-kind support for 57 field trials from OCP-North America.</li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">A dataset was published documenting a national survey of soil testing and fertility recommendations in the USA with 233 downloads and 1000+ views in Ag Data Commons. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">Nine manuscripts involving 66 unique collaborating authors have been published as Open Access in ASA-CSSA-SSSA international journals. The papers have high visibility and citation (86 total citations) supporting strong interest from the scientific community.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The impact of the collaborative nature of FRST is difficult to measure, but the FRST project has included 66 different scientists on 9 peer-reviewed papers, 65 scientists who contributed to a national survey dataset published in Ag Data Commons, 30-45 collaborators from private and public institutions regularly attend monthly virtual meetings, and 15-20 scientists are involved in each activity committee. The FRST Project is collaborative and inclusive, provides discipline-specific mentoring, and provides training for young scientists who often have little or no experience or mentorship in soil test correlation and calibration.  </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The FRST Project has inspired Brazilian scientists to come together and start evaluating the diversity of recommendations within Brazil with hopes of establishing a database to archive soil test correlation data similar to the FRST relational database. </li> <li data-leveltext="%2." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":0,"335559685":1440,"335559991":360,"469769242":[65533,4],"469777803":"left","469777804":"%2.","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="2">The FRST Project provides an annual update at SERA-17 meetings and involves 4 regional soil testing groups including WERA103, NECC2312, NCERA13, and SERA6 in its management. </li> </ol> </li> </ol>

Publications

<ol> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Buol, G., Osmond, D., Slaton, N., Spargo, J., Lyons, S., Pearce, A., Uthman, Q., Yost, M., & Kaiser, D. (2024). Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool, V 1.5.0.0. (Revision) FRST-Tool Page (usda.gov) <a href="https://aboutblank">https://soiltestfrst.org/</a> </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Slaton, N.A., Buol, G., & Spargo, J.T. (2025). FRST Legacy Data Collection Guide (P and K). <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/FRST-Legacy-Data-Guide-P-and-K-11.26.2024.pdf">https://soiltestfrst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/FRST-Legacy-Data-Guide-P-and-K-11.26.2024.pdf</a>  </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Slaton, N.A., Buol, G., & Yost, M. (2025). FRST Legacy Data Collection Guide (S). <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/FRST-Legacy-Data-Guide-S-11.26.2024.pdf">FRST-Legacy-Data-Guide-S-11.26.2024.pdf</a>  </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Jones, J., Miller, B., Spargo, J., Sikora, F., Rakkar, M., Slaton, N.A., & Osmond, D. (2024). Survey to Determine the Methods Used to Measure Soil pH and Lime Requirements in the United States and Puerto Rico. Fact Sheet #7 (Jan. 2025). <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/national-lime-rate-survey/">https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/national-lime-rate-survey/</a>  </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Bourns, M., Buol, G., Gatiboni, L., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Slaton, N., & Osmond, D. (2025). FRST Relational Database for Preserving Soil Test Correlation and Calibration Data. Fact Sheet #8 (Jan. 2025). <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/frst-soil-test-database/">https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/frst-soil-test-database/</a>  </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Bourns, M., Buol, G., Gatiboni, L., Spargo, J., Yost, M., Slaton, N., & Osmond, D. (2025). Decision Aid for Soil Test P and K Interpretation. Fact Sheet #9 (Jan. 2025). <a href="https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/frst-soil-test-database/">https://soiltestfrst.org/resources/frst-soil-test-database/</a>  </li> <li data-leveltext="%3." data-font="" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="3">Bourns, M., Buol, G., Spargo, J. T., Gatiboni, L., Yost, M. A., Slaton, N. A., & Osmond, D. L. (2025). The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool: A relational database and decision interface tool. Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 10, e70016. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70016">https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.70016</a>  </li> </ol>

Impact Statements

The FRST Project has inspired Brazilian scientists to come together and start evaluating the diversity of recommendations within Brazil with hopes of establishing a database to archive soil test correlation data similar to the FRST relational database.
The University of Minnesota (lead Institution) and eight other institutions in the North Central Region were awarded an NRCS-CIG grant of $1,320,416 for a project entitled Enhancing Tools to Manage Phosphorus in Agricultural Fields in the Northcentral Region to Reduce the Risk Loss to Surface Waters: A Project Supporting the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST). The project will develop common criteria for phosphorus management guidelines from soil fertility data gathered throughout the Northcentral region and data from field trials will support the FRST database and decision support tool.
Information on soil test correlation and calibration research and soil test interpretation has been disseminated to the scientific community and the general public via the FRST website. The FRST webpage was viewed 35,000 times by 4,200 users (761 returning users) and the FRST decision aid was viewed 2,000 times by 1,300 users between 3 July 2024 and 26 June 2025 supporting significant stakeholder and researcher interest in the science behind soil-test-based fertilizer recommendations. Users are from 118 different countries but primarily from the USA (65%), India (10%), Canada (3%), Philippines (~2%), and Brazil (~2 %).