Alabama was the last southern state to establish a public soil testing laboratory for its farmers in 1953. The reason was because Alabama already had an envious system of Research stations throughout the state on all the major soil types. Each station had on-going, soil fertility research that resulted in very good recommendations for the major soils of the state. However, with the advent of extensive lime and fertilizer use after WWII, soils became highly variable from one field to the next. The time for soil testing had arrived in Alabama.
Dr. Dennis Rouse, Dr. Clarence Wilson and
others thoroughly documented the scientific basis
for establishing a soil testing program in Alabama.
Their publication, “The Basis for Soil Testing in
Alabama”, provided the precise correlation and
calibration data from long-term experiments that are
missing in many other soil testing programs.
Alabama was the last southern state to establish a public soil testing laboratory for its farmers in 1953. The reason was because Alabama already had an envious system of Research stations throughout the state on all the major soil types. Each station had on-going, soil fertility research that resulted in very good recommendations for the major soils of the state. However, with the advent of extensive lime and fertilizer use after WWII, soils became highly variable from one field to the next. The time for soil testing had arrived in Alabama.
