Thanks for all the replies to my query on soil labs - most of these
are listed below with names redacted. To clarify, the problem was not
that I could not find a lab, the problem was that there are so many,
with wide variation in procedures and pricing. Further, I hoped for
(and received) personal reviews on labs for their service and quality.
For those who care about the punchline, I am going with Brookside
Labs because several people strongly recommended the lab for quality,
speed, and pricing. They do everything I need in this case. DANR (at
UC Davis) also came up multiple times, and an interesting recurring
suggestion was to check with county extension offices.
Best wishes,
Dan Gruner
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I"ve used Analytical labs at Penn State U for soil nutrients as well
as the lab at MacArthur Ecological Research Center in Lake Placid,
FL, under Archbold Biological Station. The procedures and tests for
total nutrients should be the same at any lab; however
plant-available nutrients are a different story, as a lab typically
uses methods devised for local soils, that may not work elsewhere.
***************
Check out the ANR analytical lab at UC Davis.
http://danranlab.ucdavis.edu/
I've only used them for macronutrients, but I know they do a lot more than
that. Anyway, you can learn a great deal about their services through
their website.
**************
When I was a graduate student at UC Davis we ran these kinds of
analyses through their DANR lab, I am not sure how much 'outside'
clients they have. But maybe worth looking into? They do all the
things you are interested in.
http://danranlab.ucdavis.edu/
*************
I used to use A&L but gave up 2 years ago after a series of hold
ups, errors (ever seen silt/sand/clay %'s that add up to 135%? I
have...) and other frustrations. I now use Clemson's soil lab, which
seems to have marginally better prices. For me (living in SC), it's
handy because we can drop off our samples at the Ag Extension office
- don't know what it's like to ship in samples. Their turnaround has
been quicker as well. You can check them out at:
<http://www.clemson.edu/agsrvlb/>http://www.clemson.edu/agsrvlb/. I'm
interested in your other findings because I'm not wedded to Clemson,
but didn't know what other's experiences with different labs might be. Cheers,
John
*****************
Try this website for pricing at Louisiana State University.
<http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Agronomy_Environmental_Management/soil_testing_lab/>http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Agronomy_Environmental_Management/soil_testing_lab/
**************
You can contact with Star lab under Ohio State University.
The website:
<http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/starlab/>http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/starlab/
************
Send to Pennsylvania State University . PSU get a form on line.
****************
You may want to call Rutgers University's cooperative extension.
Their soil lab is good and may be able to put together the test
combination you are looking for.
****************
Have you tried Ag-Vise?
I'm not sure of their prices. But they are trying to get back on their feet
after a tornado destroyed one of their facilities last summer. They've done
water holding capacity for me and P analyses for a grad student, and they
regularly do NO3 & NH4 for a co-worker.
http://www.agviselabs.com/
*****************
Take a look at the Odum School of Ecology Analytical Chemistry lab
(<http://www.uga.edu/sisbl/>http://www.uga.edu/sisbl/), at least for
the nutrients. I don't know if they'll do the other measurements,
since those were all things that we would do in our own labs here,
but if you contact Tom Maddox
(<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]), who runs the lab, he
will likely have good suggestions about where else you can go.
*****************
A couple years ago I was interested in doing most of the same analyses. I
was a student at Texas A&M. After shopping around I ended up sending
samples to the soil lab at A&M for their package (pH, Conductivity, Nitrate,
P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Na), which I think was about $5/sample, and sending samples
to Oklahoma State for TN, OM, and texture. Oklahoma State had the best
prices by far for these analyses. Here are the links to the websites.
Oklahoma State
http://www.soiltesting.okstate.edu/pricelist.htm
A&M
http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/
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these are the prices at brookside laboratories, new knoxville, ohio
in the states - it's $7.50 for the S001B test
(S001 STANDARD SOIL, includes: pH, Organic Matter, Sulfur, Est. N.
release, Exchangeable Ca-Mg-KNa, Bray II Phos., Exchange Capacity, %
base saturation of Cation, MIII Extractable P-Mn-Zn-B-Cu-Fe-Al,
S001B includes: Standard S001, SMP/Sikora Buffer pH, No Bray II Phos. (Exchange
capacity and % base saturations are calculated using SMP/Sikora
Buffer pH)
and $9.00 for the C, N and C:N ratio
with both $16.50 per sample.
***************
Just a thought. Since I don't know where you are located this might
not be such a great idea. But, here goes....have you contacted your
local county extension office? I had similar tests run on soil
samples, and if I remember correctly the charge was ~ $16 per
sample. Part of the reduced cost was the number of samples I had
analyzed which totaled 80.
****************
I can highly recommend Brookside Labs in New Knoxville, Ohio. We
have used them for years, as have vegetation ecologists at UNC and
NCSU. Brookside offers a "research discount" for samples sent in the
off season (winter). I believe they run around $8.00 / sample for
chemical analysis and $9.00/sample for textural.
Contact information:
Mr. Mark Flock
Brookside Laboratories
308 S. Main Street
New Knoxville, Ohio 45871
419-753-2949
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*****************
I've been using Brookside Labs (<http://www.blinc.com>www.blinc.com)
and have been really happy with them. I just got a quote yesterday
for thier basic soil test (S001N) for $12/sample and texture (S171)
for $9.00. The complete list of tests is at
<http://www.blinc.com/test_pdf/soil.pdf>http://www.blinc.com/test_pdf/soil.pdf.
You'll have to email them for the university contract pricing on
other packages. Thier staff is really helpful and they have a quick
turn-around. The best way to ship samples is to use USPS Priority
mail flat rate boxes. 70 lbs max per box for $9.80 or $12.95. I think
we've been using the small boxes which can be packed densly enough
that they don't get damaged in transit. Hope this helps.
*******************
I am not sure what you imagine as "reasonable." In my experience this is
where much of my grant dollars went, ugh, particularly if you need
replication for stats. Some of the variables you mention would be done under
a basic garden soil fertility test but the test above this start adding up.
Talk with a lab or check their website to see what is bulked together and
you may be able to cut some costs.
Many larger land-grant colleges have labs but even if you work there don't
expect a break (experience talking). Most recently I used UMASS-Amherst soil
lab. They have a website with pricing. Before that I used Rutgers
University.
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