65th Anniversary of N.C. Soil Testing Service
Agronomic Division — 2005 Annual Report
Colleen Hudak-Wise, Ph.D., director, (919) 733-2655
This year marks the 65th anniversary of North Carolina's soil testing service. Today, soil
testing is the still the primary focus of the Agronomic Division though not its sole mission.
The Division's current scope is broader to better meet the needs of North Carolina's diverse
agricultural, business and residential communities. Field services, nematode assay and plant/
waste/solution analyses, in addition to soil testing, help the division meet its mandate to
enhance plant growth, productivity, profitability and environmental quality.
For the first time in 16 years, the N.C. Board of Agriculture approved fee increases for some
agronomic testing services, effective September 1 , 2005. The increases will affect fees for
nematode assays, plant tissue analyses, waste analyses, solution analyses and tests for heavy
metal content in soils. The fees paid by North Carolina residents for most agronomic tests
will be only $1 higher, but more substantial fees will be charged for special tests and for the
processing of out-of-state samples. Routine soil tests will continue to be free.
Service
In fiscal year 2004—05, Agronomic Division laboratories processed more than 380,000 soil,
nematode, plant, waste and solution samples, and issued more than 55,000 advisory reports.
This workload represents an increase of about 32,000 samples over last year, probably due,
in large part, to implementation of the revised Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) 590 Nutrient Management Standard and the new N.C. Phosphorus Loss Assessment
Tool. The soil testing and waste analysis laboratories continued to operate under the N.C.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Division of Water Quality’s
laboratory certification program and are qualified to provide critical testing for animal waste
permits and nutrient management compliance. The plant analysis laboratory joined soil
testing this year in participating in the North American Proficiency Testing program. Under
this program, our laboratory results are compared with those of other laboratories across the
country on a quarterly basis.
Technical staff provided about 6,300 farmers, homeowners and agribusiness leaders with
technical advice and recommendations for efficient crop fertilization, plant nutrition, biosolid
land applications and effective nematode management. Above and beyond their normally
assigned duties, 6 of the division’s 13 regional agronomists spent most of June through
August serving as regional coordinators for the department's field verification of agricultural
losses occurring as a result of 2004 hurricanes. Other division staff also volunteered days and
weeks of their time to this effort.
Regional agronomists responded to hundreds of requests regarding environmental issues —
primarily waste management plan clarifications, regulatory updates, and river basin oversight
reviews — and participated in local advisory committees. Agronomists also provided
technical expertise, service, and/or training for several regional and statewide environmental
projects in cooperation with DENR, North Carolina State University (NCSU), N.C.
Agricultural & Technical State University and USDA-NRCS.
