NECC2312: Northeast Coordinating Committee on Soil Testing
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Active
Date of Annual Report: 01/23/2024
Report Information
Annual Meeting Dates: 10/05/2023
- 10/06/2023
Period the Report Covers: 10/06/2022 - 10/06/2023
Period the Report Covers: 10/06/2022 - 10/06/2023
Participants
Hopkins, BryanKetterings, Quirine
White, Charles
Spargo, John
Glaze-Corcoran, Sam
Pena-Yewtukhiw, Eugenia
Pettinelli, Dawn
Tao, Haiying
Gan, Huijie
Shober, Amy
Gartley, Karen
Pokhrel, Sapana
Hoskins, Bruce
Mathur, Renuka
Murphy, Stephanie
Heckman, Joseph
Rabinovich, Alon
Brief Summary of Minutes
Accomplishments
Publications
Impact Statements
Date of Annual Report: 10/04/2024
Report Information
Annual Meeting Dates: 10/03/2024
- 10/04/2024
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2024
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2023 - 09/30/2024
Participants
Charlie White, Penn StateJohn Spargo, Penn State
Quirine Ketterings, Cornell
Sanjay Gami, Cornell
Amy Shober, University of Delaware
Sapana Pokhrel, University of Delaware
Sam Corcoran, UMass
Haiying Tao, UConn
Abigayle Ward, UConn (graduate student)
Dawn Pettinelli, UConn
Bruce Hoskins, UMaine
Joseph Heckman, Rutgers (Oct 3 only)
Alon Rabinovich, Rutgers (Oct 3 only)
Stephanie Murphy, Rutgers
Karen Gartley – University of Delaware
Renuka Mathur, University of New Hampshire (virtual)
Brief Summary of Minutes
Meeting Overview
- Location: Grey Towers (USFS), Milford, PA
- Dates: October 3–4, 2024
- Attendees: Representatives from Rutgers, UConn, UMaine, UMass, Penn State, University of Delaware, WVU, Cornell, UNH, and others (in-person and virtual).
Key Discussions & Updates
Administrative
- 2023 minutes approved.
- Rotation for 2024 chair: Rhode Island, Vermont, or West Virginia.
Joint Soil Testing Meeting (June 2024, Minneapolis)
- First annual NRSP-11 meeting on the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST).
- Sessions on data management, soil test correlation, sulfur, lime/soil carbon, and ManureDB.
- NECC will host the next joint meeting in 2028.
NAPT Update (National Proficiency Testing Program)
- Transition of contracts from Utah State to BYU in Jan 2025.
- Revised Code of Ethics, new PAP certification stamps, ALTA collaboration for certification and training.
- Concerns raised about lack of standardization for soil health methods.
Research & Technical Presentations
- Conversion of MM-P to M3-P in CT soils: Quadratic models performed best, but predictive accuracy drops at high P levels; recommendation to test multivariate/random forest approaches.
- Rock powder amendment research (NJ): Increased pH, some micronutrient changes; potential use for CO₂ capture, liming, and P mitigation, but spreading challenges noted.
- High OM garden bed mixes: USDA-SARE project studying nutrient retention, leaching, and raised bed contamination; wide variability in recommendations among Land-grants.
- Regionalizing labs (NPDN model): Potential for shared protocols through LIMS system.
- Lime studies: Methodological differences (hand vs machine stir) affect pH results.
- CaCl₂ pH: Comparable to water pH in lime recs; discussion of adopting CaCl₂ pH as routine.
- Organic matter, sulfur, and boron: Measurement inconsistencies noted.
State Reports (Highlights)
- CT: ~12,000 samples; new analyzers; Pettinelli retiring Dec 2024; lab moving to renovated space in 2025.
- ME: ~14,000 samples; PFAS research focus; $5M earmarked for facilities; new soil health faculty.
- MA: ~13,000 samples, mostly homeowners; state interest in Healthy Soils Action Plan.
- NH: ~3,000 samples; updating LIMS; projects on biochar, arsenic, FRST lime study.
- NJ: Automation in pH and texture analysis; new soil health fact sheets.
- NY: Discontinued soil kits; research lab closed; ongoing manure/P index work.
- PA: Significant equipment upgrades; strong compost testing demand; research on biochar and N recalibration.
- Other states reported similar activities in cover crops, biochar, and soil health initiatives.
Friday Discussions
- Revisions to Methods Manual.
- Regional P Index considerations.
- Salinity assessment within routine testing.
- Microbial biomass as possible yield/manure management indicator.
- Set 2025 goals.
Future Meetings
- 2025: Hosted by UConn.
- 2026: Hosted by WVU.
- Hybrid option suggested for broader participation.
Accomplishments
Publications
Impact Statements
Date of Annual Report: 06/11/2026
Report Information
Annual Meeting Dates: 10/02/2025
- 10/03/2025
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2024 - 09/30/2025
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2024 - 09/30/2025
Participants
ParticipantsUniversity of Connecticut: Haiying Tao, Patrick McIntosh, Mia Maltz, Avishesh Neupane. (Dawn Pettinelli did not attend).
University of Maryland: Nicole Fiorellino
West Virginia University: Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw (Virtual)
University of Delaware: Amy Shober, Jarrod Miller, Karen Gartley. (Sapana Pokhrel did not attend).
Rutgers University: Stephanie Murphy, Alon Rabinovich (Oct 3 only), Joe Heckman (Virtual, Oct 3 only)
Cornell University: Quirine Ketterings, Sanjay Gami
Penn State University: John Spargo. (Charlie White did not attend).
University of Massachusetts: Sam Corcoran. (Jianyu Li did not attend).
University of New Hampshire: Renuka Mathur (Virtual)
University of Maine: Bruce Hoskins (Remote/did not attend)
NAPT Program - SSSA: Shannon Nelson (BYU)
Other non-attendees: Bryan Hopkins (NAPT/BYU)
Brief Summary of Minutes
Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting
Administrative Updates
- Chair Rotation: The election and appointment of the 2025 Chair will be decided alphabetically, with discussions pointing toward Delaware being next.
- Manual Updates: Amy Shober and Renuka Mathur are working on the pH and lime chapter of the Methods Manual, with contributions from John Spargo. The committee discussed adopting weekly Zoom calls with a second reviewer system for editing chapters, including upcoming edits to the Silica and Boron chapters.
- Future Participation: A consensus was reached to keep meetings research-focused, but to extend invitations to private labs serving clients in the region (e.g., Wood End, CVAS, Dairy One) as well as MASTPAWG members. Amy Shober formally invited NECC members to join MASTPAWG.
Technical Updates & Presentations
- NAPT Update: Shannon Nelson announced a workshop on November 9th and highlighted that data from 150 labs is now available online. The presentation showed correlations between methods and precision, and featured a discussion on Lead (Pb)-rich samples—noting they typically have high calcium and pH—along with a goal to obtain more soils from New England.
- Soil Test Conversions: Quirine Ketterings discussed ongoing developments of lab-specific versus method-specific conversions. Cornell initiated a Soil Test Conversion Program to derive conversions from Mehlich-3 to Morgan and Modified Morgan to Morgan for CAFO planning in NY, with UConn, UMass, Penn State, and Maine participating.
- CCA Manual Update: Quirine provided an update on the Northeast Region Certified Crop Advisor exam manual, noting that the 2022 Performance Objectives (POs) update was completed without faculty input, resulting in questionable POs. The updated manual, which covers New York and New England, is expected in Summer 2026.
- LIMS Modernization: Renuka Mathur detailed UNH's migration from a 30-year-old ColdFusion database to a new LIMS expected to launch in Spring 2026. The system features 2-factor authentication and a data query feature to change crop types post-receipt, reducing staff workload.
- Organic Matter (OM) & Soil Health: Mia Maltz shared that the RSF test outperformed SME when evaluating compost and rock dust in high OM soils. Stephanie Murphy compared SOM testing methods, noting that Carbon by combustion uses smaller samples (250-500 mg) and represents humified fractions, while Loss-on-Ignition (LOI) uses larger samples (10-15 g) and represents particulate (active) OM. LOI yields higher values than Carbon analysis when SOM exceeds 10% and is preferred for alkaline soils (pH > 7.5) due to carbonates. The conversion factor to estimate SOM from total carbon has changed from 0.58 to 0.50. Eugenia Pena-Yewtukhiw highlighted a rapid soil aggregation test costing roughly $5 per sample, measuring within the same year.
- Wheat Nitrogen Rate Trials: Nicole Fiorellino presented Maryland trials showing that current Nitrogen recommendations for wheat are not limiting yield. Results suggest that applying more Nitrogen at jointing rather than green-up may increase yield, though growth regulators might be needed to avoid lodging.
- Soil Nickel Survey: Joe Heckman proposed a regional survey to track Mehlich-3 soil Nickel levels, comparable to a Midwest study recently published in Plant and Soil.
- Additional Presentations: Jarrod Miller discussed using Apparent Electrical Conductivity to map coastal soil salinity. Sam Corcoran addressed challenges with engineered soils. Amy Shober led a discussion on improving phosphorus recommendations. Quirine Ketterings discussed the "Value/Power of manure" project and using field N balances as an adaptive management evaluation tool.
State Reports (Highlights)
- Connecticut (UConn): Processed 14,667 soil samples using the Modified Morgan extractant. Dawn Pettinelli retired in December 2024, and Avishesh Neupane joined as lab director in August 2025. The Plant Science program requires 15 credits for a CPSS track. Research focuses on P and K fertility for cabbage and silage corn, Austrian pea and cereal rye cover crops, on-farm precision experiments for nitrogen, and high tunnel soils.
- Delaware (UDel): Amy Shober became the Faculty Director for the UD Soil Testing Program. Ongoing work includes updating lime recommendations for the Mid-Atlantic and executing major updates to nutrient recommendations for Delaware crops ahead of a LIMS overhaul. Evaluated routine agronomic soil tests for coastal soil salinity.
- Maine (UMaine): Processed 14,175 commercial and 4,300 homeowner samples using primarily Modified Morgan. A $5M earmark was secured, allocating $3M for facilities renovations starting in winter 2025/2026 and $2M for equipment. Primary research includes a heavy focus on PFAS (specifically in air-borne contaminated soil fractions from tillage), biochar, and deep compost mulch no-till systems. The lab lost admin/IT staff and its primary equipment operator in 2024-2025.
- Maryland (UMD): Research is ongoing regarding in-season Nitrogen management, Kernza, and wheat Nitrogen rate trials.
- Massachusetts (UMass): Processed 14,000 samples using Modified Morgan. Soil health testing kits are available through a public lending library. Research includes a SARE multistate project on high OM materials and a state Healthy Soils Action Plan evaluating liming in no-till soils with and without acidifying N fertilizers.
- New Hampshire (UNH): Processed 2,139 home garden and 636 commercial samples using Mehlich-3. Cooperative Extension merged with the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture in July 2025. The plant diagnostic lab closed, redirecting samples to UMass or Maine, and UNH is temporarily contracting out to PSU. Research covers biochar-composted manure, a biochar SFN study on conifer/hardwood seedlings, and MicroBiometer evaluations.
- New Jersey (Rutgers): Processed 7,363 samples using Mehlich-3 and an Adams-Evans buffer. The lab is preparing for a relocation and 2026 retirements for both the Principal Lab Technician and Laboratory Director. Research highlights include rock powder soil amendments, FRST Potassium calibration with cabbage, homemade lawn fertilizers, and surveys of soil Nickel.
- New York (Cornell): Operating without a standalone fertility lab, activities are shifting entirely to soil health. Cornell is updating state Nitrogen and Phosphorus balances and evaluating precision ag and greenhouse gas emissions. The "Value and power of manure" project is in its fifth year and preparing to update the current manure crediting system.
- Pennsylvania (PSU): Processed 54,000 soil samples and 10,000 water samples using Mehlich-3. Hired two new full-time staff members: Abigayle Ward and Kyle Elkin. PSU (Spargo) co-leads the national FRST project, which now includes over 3,000 trials, added Sulfur, focuses on calibrating soil buffers, and will support 18 field trials in 2025. Additional research explores cover crop N credits, mid-IR FTIR for soil health, evaluating enhanced rock weathering of basalt and olivine, and poultry litter biochar.