Soil fertility is fundamental to any grass field regardless of age or use. Soil sampling should be regularly carried out to maintain a productive field or before any reseeding takes place. It is important to get the basics right and, in most situations, a simple analysis giving pH, phosphate and potash should be sufficient. If there are any particularly troublesome fields, it might be beneficial to carry out an in-depth trace elements analysis.

The field should be sampled when it hasn’t received any fertiliser or manure which could skew the results. Autumn can be a useful time as it allows an informed decision for the subsequent year’s fertiliser and reseeding. Ideally the field should be sampled with a soil auger, although a trowel can be used if one isn’t available. To guarantee an accurate sample you should only sample areas up to around twenty-five acres. Around twenty-five to thirty samples should be taken from the field walking in a “W” pattern to give a fair representation of the field.

Samples should be collected from the same depth across the field which for a permanent pasture would be around 8-10cm and on rotational ground you want to emulate the ploughing depth of around 20cm. The samples should be collected in a bucket and given a mix to make one uniform sample. It should be labelled up and sent away for analysis. The analysis should enable informed decision making to improve soil health and overall farm performance.