SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) is reporting that by working with partners throughout the state and the Gulf Hypoxia Program (GHP), they have developed a no-cost program with a focus on "increasing the knowledge and use of soil sampling as a nutrient management practice to benefit farm operations."

The program, named Indiana’s Mississippi River Basin Soil Sampling Program, is open now for applicants.

“Indiana is a leader in soil conservation and that is thanks to programs like this one,” said Lt. Governor Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture. “This funding will support our Hoosier farmers and landowners looking to increase soil conservation efforts on their farms, which we know will help them keep their soil fertile and healthy for generations to come.”

This program includes row crop fields, pastures, hay and specialty crops located within Indiana’s portion of the Mississippi River Basin.

Sign-ups begin Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, and ISDA is accepting registrations until Friday, April 4, 2025 or until funds are exhausted.

From the ISDA:

The ISDA promotes the importance of nutrient management and the principles of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework. The 4R framework incorporates using the “Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, and Right Place” to achieve cropping system goals.

This program focuses on soil sampling and testing as it is a key component, and first step, of developing a plan for nutrient management. Soil sampling provides an assessment of the soil’s fertility which can be used for making fertilizer application recommendations, assessing available nutrients over time, increase farmer profitability and enhance environmental protection by reducing the risk of nutrient loss.

This project was developed to help further Indiana’s State Nutrient Reduction Strategy efforts.

This program includes row crop fields, pastures, hay and specialty crops located within Indiana’s portion of the Mississippi River Basin. Eligible landowners will be prioritized by acreage enrolled (i.e., 100 acres or less), fields that have never been soil sampled and fields that haven’t been sampled regularly (i.e., within the last 4 years).

Further prioritization may be implemented based on ISDA’s workload capacity. This program excludes hobby gardens and private lawns. Interested landowners can sign-up online at ISDA’s website or by reaching out to [email protected].

This program was made possible thanks to ISDA, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance (IANA), Indiana Conservation Partnership (ICP) members, farmers, and crop advisors.