2023 Washington County Soil & Forage Testing Campaign Packet

The Brazos Valley Soil and Forage Testing Campaign is underway in Washington County and will run November 1 – 22. This campaign is made possible through the support of the Washington County Beef and Forage Committee and in cooperation with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Soil, Water, and Forage Testing Lab in College Station.

Soil sample bags and submittal forms for both the soil and forage testing campaign are available at three locations across the county including:

• The Washington County Extension Service located at 1305 East Blue Bell Road in Brenham
• Cattlemen’s Supply Inc located at 1850 Texas 105 in Brenham
• Brenham Produce located at 1103 South Market in Brenham

All soil samples, forage samples, and forms must be returned to the Washington County Extension Office to receive discounted pricing.  Full payment by check payable to the Beef Sub Committee is due when the samples are submitted to the Extension office.  Extension office staff will deliver your samples to the testing lab.  Sample results will be returned to the Extension office and then distributed by email or mail.

Soil Campaign

The Soil Testing Campaign offers agricultural producers the opportunity to have their soil tested to determine its current fertility and receive a recommendation to improve the fertility required to produce the best crop possible.  This campaign is only intended for soil analysis on agricultural land used for grazing and/or hay production.  Please do not submit lawn or garden soil samples. A campaign for lawn/garden is offered every year in the spring.

The cost for a routine Soil Sample analysis (pH, NO3-N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, and S) will be $8.00 and a routine analysis with micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn) will cost $15.00. In exchange for the reduced testing cost, some information regarding your agriculture land will be required.  The information you will need to provide includes the number of acres the sample represents, your planned fertilizer application for the coming year, what you are growing, and whether or not the soil has been sampled in the past three years.

Forage Testing

In addition to soil testing, producers can also submit Forage Samples for analysis during this campaign.  The cost of the standard NIR Analysis (Protein, Fiber, TDN, IVTD) will be $5.00 and the NIR+Nitrates will cost $15.00.  The Nitrate Analysis should only be considered for fertilized sorghum tyer samples.  Producers are asked to submit a quart size sample in a paper sack or envelope with information on sample ID and forage type.  For the best results, producers are encouraged to submit a sample collected by using a bale probe rather than a hand grab sample.

If you have any questions concerning the Brazos Valley Soil Analysis Campaign, please contact the Washington County Extension office at (979) 277-6212 ext. 2 or visit https://washington.agrilife.org/soilcampaign.