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The MLSN approach to soil test interpretation

The MLSN approach to soil test interpretation

These slides accompanied presentations about soil test interpretation, why conventional guidelines for turfgrass are broken, and how the MLSN guidelines are used. The presentations were delivered at Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane with Living Turf.

Micah Woods

May 15, 2017
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  1. The MLSN approach to soil test interpretation
    Micah Woods
    May 2017
    Chief Scientist | Asian Turfgrass Center
    www.asianturfgrass.com

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  2. 1. The conventional way – low, medium, & high classification

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  3. 1. The conventional way – low, medium, & high classification
    1.1 BCSR is not recommended

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  4. 1. The conventional way – low, medium, & high classification
    1.1 BCSR is not recommended
    2. Conventional guidelines are broken

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  5. 1. The conventional way – low, medium, & high classification
    1.1 BCSR is not recommended
    2. Conventional guidelines are broken
    3. The MLSN guidelines address these problems

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  6. 1. The conventional way – low, medium, & high classification
    1.1 BCSR is not recommended
    2. Conventional guidelines are broken
    3. The MLSN guidelines address these problems
    4. Using MLSN

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  7. The conventional way – low,
    medium, & high classification

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  8. The conventional way
    GCSAA GCM Magazine, January 2004

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  9. List of ranges
    • low
    • medium
    • high

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  10. “Low range: a high probability (80-100%) that
    applying the nutrient will elicit a growth
    response.”

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  11. “Medium range: approximately a 50% chance
    of getting a plant growth response …; if
    supplemental fertilizer is not applied, growth
    will probably be limited, especially as the
    season progresses.”

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  12. “High range: little or no crop response is
    expected from applying the particular
    nutrient.”

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  13. Conventional guidelines are broken

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  14. What’s the objective of turfgrass management?
    Royal Bangkok Sports Club, Thailand

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  15. Increasing the growth rate
    Kashima Soccer Stadium, Japan

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  16. Decreasing the growth rate
    Manila American Cemetery, Philippines

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  17. Adjusting the growth rate
    The Old Course, St. Andrews

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  18. “Turfgrass management is managing the
    growth rate of the grass to create the desired
    playing surface for …” – Micah Woods

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  19. “The fundamental principle of successful
    greenkeeping is the recognition of the fact that
    the finest golfing grasses flourish on poor soil
    and that more harm is done by over-, rather
    than underfertilizing.” – Alister MacKenzie

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  20. Turfgrass management, or agronomy?

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  21. “In some cases, turfgrasses have been placed
    in a ‘high’ P and K requirement category, while
    pasture grasses were in a ‘low’ category. This
    decision was based on economics, not
    agronomics. The cost of fertilization was not
    considered of primary importance for turf.” –
    Carrow, Waddington, and Rieke

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  22. And grass is often grown in sand

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  23. “Turfgrass researchers continue to improve the
    soil testing recommendations, but that type of
    research is time consuming and expensive. It is
    also worth noting that every time a researcher
    conducts one of these studies, they tend to
    find that the levels required are lower than
    what we previously thought – meaning that
    ‘low potassium’ you got on your last soil test
    report might be optimum down the road.” –
    Doug Soldat

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  24. The MLSN guidelines address these
    problems

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  25. “I recommend you compare your results with
    PACE Turf’s Minimum Levels for Sustainable
    Nutrition [MLSN] guidelines ... the minimum
    levels published by PACE are drastically lower
    than many traditional soil test interpretations,
    and likely more accurate.” – Doug Soldat

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  26. The MLSN guidelines address these problems

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  27. Global Soil Survey

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  28. Soil samples from good-performing turf

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  29. Soil samples from good-performing turf

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  30. Soil samples from good-performing turf

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  31. Using MLSN

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  32. Let’s make sure we have enough beer

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  33. More specifically...
    One can express the quantity of an element required as
    fertilizer as Q.
    a + b − c = Q
    where,
    a is the quantity of the element used by the grass
    b is the quantity of the element kept in the soil
    c is the quantity of the element present in the soil
    Q is the quantity of the element required as fertilizer

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  34. MLSN is a value for b
    amount needed
    a + b −
    amount present
    c =
    fertilizer requirement
    Q
    a is a site-specific use estimate, b is the MLSN guideline, and c
    is the soil test result.

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  35. http://www.blog.asianturfgrass.com/fertilizer/

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