How to Take the Perfect Spade Sample
How to Take the Perfect Spade Sample
Taking good spade samples is essential when regularly monitoring and observing your soils.
If you are making the effort of spade sampling on your farm, it will be most useful to you if these are as consistent as possible. Making it easy to compare between different fields and with historic images. As well as making visual interpretation of the samples both possible and straightforward.
Step 1 – How to Take Your Sample
- Place spade vertical to the ground to ensure cubic shape of sample
- Jump on spade
- Repeat on all four sides
- Lever out the whole sample and place to side of hole
- Remove spade marks on sides of cube by tearing it in half
- Place this half onto tray with profile visible
How good is your spade sample?
- As square shaped as possible
- Flat base and flat face – showing the profile clearly
- Includes section of the sub-soil as well as top soil
– achieved making sure the spade is in as far as it will go
Examples of bad soil samples:
Spade marks not removed – anomalous output – hard/impossible to interpret
Spade not vertical – width at base lost
Not clear which way is up – cannot be interpreted
Soil upside down – no section of the soil to interpret
Step 2 – Interpreting your Spade Sample
Things to check for:
- Look for the difference between top soil layer and sub-soil layer
- Assess the structure and aggregation of the sample
- Using a ruler measure the top soil layer
Step 3 – Handling the Soil Sample
Breaking up the sample:
- Gently break off sections to reveal internal structure
- Tear it apart but handle as little as possible in order to inspect the shapes in the structure – blocks, crumbs etc.
Step 4 – Photograph your Sample
Take a good quality image of the sample in its tray. If it is sunny make sure to shade the soil sample (to avoid the colour change this will make to the soil thus making it possible to compare colour to samples photographed when weather is overcast).
Remember these tips:
- Shoot with your back to sun (ie in shade)
- Shoot in portrait mode
- Frame the image using the tray
That’s it. Happy sampling!
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