Soil Testing Services

Soil & Forage Testing

Beginning Friday, April 1st 2022, the Sullivan County Extension Education Center office will open its doors to the public and to your soil samples!

Soil testing can be conducted for Home Gardens and for Commercial Farms. All soil samples must be completely dry and amount to 16 ounces for us to accept it! For additional CCESC assistance, please contact the following staff member(s) to talk through any questions about this process: 

For home gardens and lawns: 

Horticulture Program Coordinator - Katie Gasior 
phone: (845) 292-6180 Ext. 123
email: kmg287@cornell.edu

For farms and commercial usage: 

Agriculture Production Program Manager - Michelle Proscia 
phone: (845) 292-6180 Ext. 129
email: mml249@cornell.edu

Why Test Soil?

A soil test will tell you what nutrients are in your soil and what you may need to add (in the form of fertilizer) for successful crop growth. Plants need nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (macronutrients) as will as micronutrients to grow. Deficiency or excess of these elements will impact the health and productivity of plants. In addition, the pH (acid/alkaline level) of your soil has an impact upon how much of your soil's nutrients your plants will be able to use. CCE Sullivan's agriculture and horticulture Programs can provide or arrange several different tests for your soil, and can help you to interpret the results and choose an appropriate course of action if necessary.

Poor soil quality and contaminated soil continues to be a growing problem in our modern world. Healthy soil produces healthy nutritious food, and you are what you eat.

Click the link below to learn how you can improve your own soil!

Improve Soil Health for a Climate-Resilient Garden | University of Maryland Extension (umd.edu)

pH Testing

A pH test measures the acid/alkaline level of your soil. In the pH scale, 7.0 is considered neutral; lower numbers indicate acid soil, while higher numbers indicate that the soil is alkaline. Most plants prefer a pH of 6.8. pH levels influence nutrient availability, with most nutrients being available to plants when the pH is in this range (6.8-7.0). If a soil is too alkaline or too acid, certain nutrients may be limited. To change soil pH to the desirable range, you will either add lime if the soil is too acid or sulfur if the soil is too alkaline. With your pH test result, we will let you know what amount of lime or sulfur is needed if any.

The CCE Sullivan Horticulture Program will perform a pH test on soil samples that are brought to our Education Center at 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road, for a fee. Please see instructions on "How to take a soil sample", and come into the office to fill out a form. 

We also sell pH Test Kits. When properly used, the pH can be determined to approximately +0.1 pH unit. This is adequate for most situations. Note: the pH kit cannot be used accurately by a person with color blindness. 

Nutrient Analysis

Soil samples for nutrient analysis may be brought to the CCE Sullivan Education Center, where you will complete an appropriate form and can find out more about accompanying fees, and we will send them to the Agro-One Soils Laboratory for testing. Copies of the test results are returned to the individual and to CCE Sullivan about two weeks later, and you can contact an educator if necessary for assistance in interpreting your results.

Agro-One Soils Laboratory (800) 344-2697 x 2179

For more soil testing information, Dairy One Website

Last updated January 26, 2024