Soil & Agricultural Material Testing

Agricultural material and soil testing may be required for Irish and EU compliance and regulatory reasons. However, understanding the composition of your soil also helps you to maximise its growing potential. It eliminates guesswork when it comes to choosing the right fertiliser practices, and the right crops to grow.

Without knowing what your land’s soil lacks, or has in abundance, you can make costly mistakes and lose valuable planting and growing seasons. With the right information, you know exactly how to treat your soil and what actions to take. Doing so can increase your yields.

Knowing your soil means that you can grow more, and save more.

Yes! Understanding your soil’s composition can help your farm business to be more profitable.

• The average beef farm in Ireland produces 5.5t DM/ha while top producers reach 12.2t DM/ha on average.
• Teagasc estimates that for every extra 1t DM/ha produced, net profit will increase by €105/ha.
• For soil with a pH of 5.3, applying 5t/ha of lime increases grass production by 1.5t DM/ha.
• Teagasc targets a yield of 10 dry tons of grass per hectare for grassland farmers. Every extra ton of grass produced is equivalent to €180.

• Our Soil and Agricultural materials testing lab is the largest in Ireland.
• We offer a comprehensive range of tests for agricultural soil, grass, slurry-sludge-manure-compost, soil carbon analysis, forestry soil and foliar testing.
• Our technicians can also analyse contaminated wasteland samples.
• Southern Scientific’s laboratory has a rigorous quality control system and is accredited ISO 17025 so you can be assured that the results are reliable.

Farmers, agricultural consultants, the horticultural industry, state bodies, local authorities and Teagasc all rely on us for our analysis and reports.