Part of the problem may be with the lack of usefulness of some of
the earlier versions of these newer methods. The other issue is a very
practical one. If a new soil test does not correlate well with an older
one (if it did, it wouldn't be any better than the old one) - then a huge
task awaits people in the soil fertility area in all states. They must
calibrate the test for their soils and crops over a period of years. This
is a very time consuming and expensive undertaking. Soil testing is an
area that has been decidedly "unsexy" in the eyes of funding programs
(with the exception of N work in the 1980s and early '90s). There must be
overwhelming evidence of superiority of the new test plus a lot of PR
work before there will be widespread evaluation and adoption of a new
comprehensive test.
FRED
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Fred Magdoff
Northeast Region SARE Program
Hills Building
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
tel:802-656-0472
fax:802-656-4656
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