We send them off in the post. I'll find out from my OH when he getas back. It is a really good idea to soil test, then you know what you need to correct any inbalance. Is your field for hay or just grazing?
We got fields in the area tested for heavy metals due to unwell horses going into liver failure and a nearby opencast mine in the local vicinity.
Depending on what is being tested you should check if they dry out the sample (think they do to undertake the tests) If so it may not pick up things carried in water.
Not sure if that's the case for mineral check but it was for heavy metal check.
Depending on what is being tested you should check if they dry out the sample (think they do to undertake the tests) If so it may not pick up things carried in water.
Anything carried in the water would be left behind when the water is evapourated off. However on a similar vein anything water-soluble can potentially be leached out during wet weather so may not be permanently present.
I honestly can't remember now but there was something we specifically asked for the level of but they couldn't give us it because they had dried out the sample? I can look back the notes but probably irrelevant for this topic anyway.
Re judith's edit. Yes that was our problem Judith. We feared that when there had been a lot of rain it was bringing down undesirables via the mine. Dried out everything was at acceptable levels. Anyway, probably not relevant here as I said but worth bearing in mind if you suspect contaminated land to get the soil and the water checked.
Sorry this seems to have taken a specific heavy metal turn. You might want this, but most tests are just for ph levels so you know if you need lime and phosphates etc.
Best place to ask is your feed merchants as they might be able to organize this.
The field is just for grazing I don't intend using it for a hay crop because it has quite a lot of mature trees in it so isn't really suitable for cutting.
I don't suspect there to be any 'nasties' like heavy metals in there. What I'm really after is a check of what nutrients are in the soil and what it's lacking so that I can treat it for the best. It's typical moorland grazing, very pretty at the moment with wild heather under the silver birch trees, so I know it's never going to be rich pasture. Not that I want that with my two weight watchers!
What I have noticed is that in areas where I had bonfires last year the grass is looking much better so I thought the ash must have something in it that the soil needs. I just wanted a more scientific idea of what's going on
We had our field tested before we ploughed it and reseeded to make hay. We just took a sample in to our agricultural college and they tested it. tbh it was that long ago I couldnt tell you what they tested for but I know it would involve the ph value. They then tell you how to treat the soil.
Soil Analysis for Field
Posted - 03 Sep 2011 : 11:05:13 AM
but there was something we specifically asked for the level of but they couldn't give us it because they had dried out the sample? I can look back the notes but probably irrelevant for this topic anyway. 
