Agronomic Division — 2006 Annual Report
Colleen Hudak-Wise, Ph.D., director, (919) 733-2655
Service
In fiscal year 2006, Agronomic Division laboratories processed more than 370,000 soil,
nematode, plant, waste and solution samples, and issued more than 54,500 advisory
reports. This workload represents a slight decrease from last year. 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 soil testing and plant analysis laboratories
remain a part of 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.
The Soil Testing Section analyzed 306,257 soil samples and issued 33,707 reports with
fertilizer and/or lime recommendations. Although sample volume was down about 2%
from last year, it was still the third highest in the state's 66-year history of soil testing.
Predictive, diagnostic, internal and research samples comprised approximately 96, 1.5,
1.0 and 1.5% of the total sample volume. Turn-around time never exceeded five weeks
and, for much of the peak testing period, samples were processed in about four weeks or
less. Soil tests continue to be free to N.C. residents, except analyses for heavy metals.
The implementation of a $25 charge for this test helped offset budget constraints.
The laboratory installed a new soil drying system this year. It comprises two independent,
walk-in soil dryers with capacity for 7,200 samples. A rolling cart system facilitates the
transport of samples into the dryer and throughout the lab. Forty carts were purchased,
each capable of holding 720 samples.
The Plant/Waste/Solution (PWS) Section, under the direction of Brenda Cleveland,
analyzed 15,068 plant tissue samples. Research samples accounted for 51% of the tissue
samples processed. Most samples submitted were from the following five crops: cotton
(15%), trellis tomato (12%), com (10%), sweetpotato (10%) and wheat (5%).
Strawberry was the most frequently sampled crop in the Fruits and Nuts category; Fraser
fir was the most frequently sampled crop in the Conifers category.
The PWS Section also analyzed 18,084 waste samples and 2,128 solution samples.
Anaerobic hog lagoon samples accounted for 75% of the total waste samples, followed
by poultry house litter at 9%. Most solution samples were either nutrient solutions (29%)
or source water (26%).
