SBIR-STTR Award

A practice that assesses the fertility within a field is intensive soil sampling or field grid sampling. Determining the variability of available nutrients and ultimately the rates of fertilizer application for site specific crop management can involve the collection of one composite soil sample for every 1-2 acres within the field. This entire method hinges on the proper collection of soil samples to reflect the variation in nutrient status of an area requiring fertilization. While the bulk of technological advance has occurred in application equipment, the method of soil sampling has not kept pace. Innovative soil sample collection devices are required that speed up soil sample collection process to make it more efficient. A new soil sampling device has been designed to satisfy these requirements. It can be mounted on the front of a four wheel, all terrain vehicle and does not require operator dismount to process the collected soil samples. A series of experiments were designed by the principal investigator to test the feasibility of this new soil sampler. As research director of Geophyta, the principal investigator is well qualified to conduct this design and testing project.

Anticipated Results:
The commercial applications of an automated retractable multiple sampler (ARMS) which will accurately and rapidly collect routine soil samples are vast. It is a device which can be utilized by all crop producers, fertilizer dealer agronomists, and researchers involved in work on site specific crop management. As variable application rate technology gains broader acceptance, the need for an ARMS will grow due to the need for rapid soil sampling. Also, the ARMS will be more accurate than standard hand probe sampling as well as less tiring for field personnel.

A practice that assesses the fertility within a field is intensive soil sampling or field grid sampling. Determining the variability of available nutrients and ultimately the rates of fertilizer application for site specific crop management can involve the collection of one composite soil sample for every 1-2 acres within a field. This entire method hinges on the proper collection of soil samples to reflect the variation in nutrient status of an area requiring fertilization. While the bulk of technological advance has occurred in application equipment, the methods and equipment for soil sampling have not kept place. Innovative soil sample collection devices are required that speed up soil sampling while improving precision. This requires a rethinking of the soil sample collection process to make it more efficient. Two new soil sampling devices have been designed to satisfy these requirements. A series of experiments were designed to test the feasibility of automating soil sample collection. Additional research will be performed to assess the true spatial variability of nutrients in soils. This will allow a statistical determination of required sampling intensity based on desired precision. It will also provide a data set large enough to perform sampling pattern studies.Applications:Commercial applications of innovative soil sampling equipment and methods which will accurately and rapidly collect routine soil samples are vast. It is a device which can be utilized by all crop producers. fertilizer dealer agronomists, and researchers involved in work on site specific crop management. As variable application rate technology gains broader acceptance. the need for this equipment will grow due to the increased quantity of soil samples collected. Mechanized soil samplers will be more accurate than standard hand probe sampling as well as less tiring for field personnel.