Timely Tissue Sampling Aids Nutrient Decision-Making

This season, be sure to routinely monitor the health of your crops by asking your agronomist to take tissue samples and have them tested for nutrient status. This will help ensure your crops are receiving what they need to deliver optimal yield and return on investment (ROI) potential for you. Here’s what to expect from your testing lab to help you make timely decisions.

Why is tissue sampling important?

By the time you see signs of nutrient deficiency in your fields, you’ve already lost yield potential. That’s why it’s important to detect nutrient deficiencies before they manifest physically in the plant — these unseen nutrient deficiencies can be referred to as “hidden hunger” in the plant. The only way to do this is by taking tissue samples so you can address deficiencies and boost nutrients to optimal levels.

Tissue tests indicate nutrient levels within a plant at a given time. In-season plant nutrient applications help protect yield potential against environmental stresses and boost overall plant growth. WinField^® United’s proprietary NutriSolutions^® tissue testing and analyses pinpoint nutrient deficiencies at critical growth stages so you can make necessary course corrections before ROI and yield potential are compromised.   

Cutting-edge sampling method

SureTech^® Laboratories offers a full-service agricultural lab that provides access to the timely, cost-effective, reliable data you need to make informed nutrient application decisions for crops including corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. SureTech is fully integrated with the NutriSolutions tissue testing system and the NutriSolutions app, with results flowing back to your agronomist seamlessly through this technology.

In 2015, SureTech upgraded its entire tissue testing process to a microwave digestion system, which provides a higher level of data and high-quality, consistent results. In this testing method, strong acid, heat and pressure completely break down plant material into a liquid that can be analyzed. Nutrient levels are then measured, and the results are arranged into a report detailing nutrient status so that adjustments can be made in the field. SureTech is typically able to turn around results within 24 hours of receipt of tissue samples.  

In-depth review with your retailer

Once your agronomist gets tissue test results back, he or she should carefully review them with you and discuss next steps, such as:

• Which nutrients do you need to apply and when?
• What areas of the field need particular attention?
  • Are they poorer-performing areas where increased nutrition will help boost biomass?
  • Are they high-performing areas where additional nutrients would boost performance that much more?
• Will predicted rainfall affect the scheduling of nutrient applications?  

It’s critical to formulate a nutrient plan that takes all these variables into account. You might not be able to act on everything, so work with your agronomist to prioritize your ROI and yield goals and implement the nutrition plan that’s most likely to help you achieve them.

To find out more about SureTech Labs and NutriSolutions tissue testing, talk with your local trusted advisor today.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in May 2019 and was last updated in July 2020.