After the Combine: Take a Closer Look at Your Soil
Once the combine leaves the field, planning for the next crop begins. Post-harvest is an opportunity to look beyond what came across the yield monitor and learn more about what may be happening beneath the surface.
Greene Crop Consulting offers TruBio™ testing from EarthOptics to give growers a closer look at the biological side of their soil. The information can help uncover potential pests, pathogens and other biological factors that may be influencing crop performance.
What Is TruBio?
Traditional soil testing provides valuable information about soil fertility and chemistry, including nutrient levels and pH. TruBio adds another layer by looking at soil biology.
The EarthOptics TruBio test is designed to identify soil-borne pests and pathogens, evaluate foliar disease risk and measure key biofertility indicators. Combined with traditional soil testing, field history and yield data, this information can help build a more complete picture of what's happening within a field.
What Can TruBio Test For?
TruBio can identify a range of potential concerns, including:
- Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN)
- Root-knot nematodes
- Fusarium
- Pythium
- Rhizoctonia
- Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS)
- Other soil-borne and foliar disease risks
- Biofertility indicators related to nutrient cycling and plant performance
Some of these issues can affect yield without producing obvious symptoms above ground. SCN is a good example. Soybeans can appear relatively healthy while SCN is feeding on the roots and limiting yield potential, making soil testing an important tool for understanding the pressure within a field.
Knowing what's present in your soil gives you another piece of information to consider when making decisions about crop rotation, variety selection, disease management and input placement for the coming season.
Harvest tells you how the field performed. Post-harvest soil testing can help you dig deeper into why.
Talk with the Greene Crop Consulting team about post-harvest EarthOptics sampling and TruBio testing.
