Missouri State Approved Soil Testing Labs
DR. MANJULA NATHAN
COLUMBIA, MO.
The Missouri Soil Testing Association (MSTA) Approval Program is designed to assure that results provided by participating public and private labs serving the citizens of Missouri agree with allowable statistical limits. This is accomplished by evaluating the soil testing laboratories in their performance through inter-laboratory sample exchanges and a statistical evaluation of the analytical data. Based on this premise, soil test results from MSTA approved labs will be accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Services (NRCS) in federally assisted cost share programs and nutrient management plans in the state of Missouri.
In order to be approved by the Missouri State program, the participating labs should participate in all four quarter exchanges of the NAPT program and submit the MO State data release form each year to the NAPT coordinator. The NAPT coordinator in return sends soil test data from quarterly sample exchanges of the labs participating in MSTA program to the Missouri state coordinator. The MU Soil Testing Lab director serves as the state program coordinator and performs statistical analysis of the data as specified in the MSTA program. If a lab’s results fall within the allowable limits, the lab will be placed on the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) list of approved labs. A lab that is not approved may re-apply after a year. An updated listing of Missouri State Approved Soil Testing lab list can be found at: http://soilplantlab.missouri.edu/soil/msta.aspx
Note: Approval of soil analysis does not imply approval of fertilizer and limestone recommendations by the individual labs. The approval allows the clients to use the University of Missouri soil fertility recommendations as required by the federal and state agencies for cost share and nutrient management planning programs. In order to use the University of Missouri soil fertility recommendations and get meaningful results, it is recommended that the labs use the soil test procedures required by the MSTA program. ∆
DR. MANJULA NATHAN: Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Missouri