14/10/2026
# # Tips for preparing your fields before planting 🌱🚜
Good yields begin long before the planter enters the field. Use these practical steps to prepare for the coming season:
1. **Test your soil early**
Determine the pH, nutrient status, salinity and other possible constraints before buying fertiliser or lime.
2. **Check more than the topsoil**
Subsoil acidity, compaction, salinity and restricted drainage can limit root development—even when the topsoil looks healthy.
3. **Identify variability within each field**
Different soil zones may require different management. Avoid treating the entire field as though its soil is uniform.
4. **Inspect soil moisture and drainage**
Check whether water infiltrates evenly or accumulates in certain areas. Poor infiltration can cause runoff, erosion and uneven emergence.
5. **Assess compaction**
Confirm the depth and severity of any compacted layer before deciding to rip. Unnecessary or incorrectly set tillage wastes fuel and may not solve the problem.
6. **Correct soil acidity in time**
Apply the correct lime source and rate based on reliable soil results. Lime also needs adequate time and moisture to react.
7. **Plan fertiliser according to realistic yield potential**
Base nutrient applications on soil supply, crop requirements, expected rainfall and achievable yield—not on a standard blanket programme.
8. **Prepare a firm, even seedbed**
Aim for consistent planting depth, good seed-to-soil contact and uniform emergence.
9. **Calibrate your planter**
Check seed spacing, planting depth, fertiliser placement and application rates before entering the field.
10. **Keep records**
Record soil results, inputs, planting conditions, rainfall and yield. These records make future decisions more accurate.
**Don’t prepare your fields by habit—prepare them according to what the soil needs.**
📞 **Van’s Lab: 082 767 2922**
*Voicing the soil, Listening to the land.*
