2024 fall soil sampling season was certainly one for the record books! Many folks are already getting geared up for the 2025 crop season, and once winter is over many details from this fall will feel like a distant memory. Along with the many successes of this fall, here are a few things we found that are worth thinking about while the season is still fresh in your memory to optimize your 2025 soil sampling strategy.
Key Observations from Fall 2024
A Hard Fast Start
Agronomists, SoilView, and the labs took in max-capacity level volume faster than ever before. Agronomists did an excellent job marking orders ready right away so we could start delivering samples quickly and take advantage of a larger fall window, but it also serves as a warning – harvest isn’t coming slower, its getting faster.
Weather and Ground Conditions
Dry hard ground in certain areas hindered sampling – and a number of acres had to wait. We got fortunate to get some moisture later in the season to open that ground back up – there have been more dry than wet fall seasons recently and you can’t always count on being lucky.
Post-Harvest Challenges
With the fast harvest, growers didn’t like to wait for tillage/manure applications. The usual suspects did exactly what you thought they were going to do and went right into their post-harvest activities whether sampling was completed yet or not. There were a number of fields that had to be pushed to next year due to this.
Increased Demand for Quick Turnaround
ASAP volume was up a bit over previous years with the super fast harvest – growers who all got done early at the same time expected you to be on pace with them too. Many agronomists were scrambling to keep up with their grower’s demands for finishing applications quickly.
Planning for Success in 2025
You don’t have to just accept the hurdles that you face in fall as a fact-of-life that cannot be changed! The top 2 things you can do to mitigate the stresses of fall are:
- Be prepared for an early, fast start
- Use every season available to you throughout the year
Proactive Planning is Key
Don’t wait to talk to your growers about soil sampling until they are ‘ready’ to talk about it. Bring it to them and they will listen! Talk to your growers early and often about soil sampling, and use your ReTain orders as a sure-fire way to be a step ahead all year long. The more sampling orders you have sold and placed before the busy season starts, the fewer you’ll have to worry about in the middle of it.
Embrace Early In Crop (EIC) Sampling
It’s time to get serious about Early In Crop sampling. At some point we’ve all been told we’re “leaving money on the table” if we pass by a great offer – and that’s just what you’re doing if you ignore the opportunities EIC sampling brings! You don’t have to try to do it all in fall!
The science is sound – EIC sampling yields quality results – and what better way to combat dry hard ground and growers antsy to complete their tillage or manure applications in fall than by having their sampling done before harvest even starts. If you’ve been on the fence about EIC sampling this is your year – we don’t know anyone who has started using EIC sampling for some of their acres and regretted it.
Growth Through Innovation
Many of our partners who have started EIC sampling have experienced a level of growth in their precision program they could not have achieved by just trying to add more work in fall!
Let’s Work Together
We want to help! We’d love to hear from you and have a conversation about these and other ways we can help you succeed in 2025. Contact us today and we can work together to get next year off to a great start!