A DEVISE TO RAPIDLY AND PRECISELY SOIL SAMPLE FOR SITE SPECIFIC CROP MANAGEMENT

A PRACTICE THAT ASSESSES THE FERTILITY WITHIN A FIELD IS INTENSIVE SOIL SAMPLING OR FIELD GRID SAMPLING. DETERMINING THE VARIABILITY OF AVAILABLE NUTRIENTS AND ULTIMATELY THE RATES OF FERTILIZER APPLICATION FOR SITE SPECIFIC CROP MANAGEMENT CAN INVOLVE THE COLLECTION OF ONE COMPOSITE SOIL SAMPLE FOR EVERY 1-2 ACRES WITHIN THE FIELD. THIS ENTIRE METHOD HINGES ON THE PROPER COLLECTION OF SOIL SAMPLES TO REFLECT THE VARIATION IN NUTRIENT STATUS OF AN AREA REQUIRING FERTILIZATION. WHILE THE BULK OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE HAS OCCURRED IN APPLICATION EQUIPMENT, THE METHOD OF SOIL SAMPLING HAS NOT KEPT PACE. INNOVATIVE SOIL SAMPLE COLLECTION DEVICES ARE REQUIRED THAT SPEED UP SOIL SAMPLE COLLECTION PROCESS TO MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT. A NEW SOIL SAMPLING DEVICE HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO SATISFY THESE REQUIREMENTS. IT CAN BE MOUNTED ON THE FRONT OF A FOUR WHEEL, ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE AND DOES NOT REQUIRE OPERATOR DISMOUNT TO PROCESS THE COLLECTED SOIL SAMPLES. A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS WERE DESIGNED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR TO TEST THE FEASIBLITY OF THIS NEW SOIL SAMPLER. AS RESEARCH DIRECTOR OF GEOPHYTA, THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS WELL QUALIFIED TO CONDUCT THIS DESIGN AND TESTING PROJECT.