Mission and Services

Mission:

The mission of The WVU Soil Testing Laboratory is to serve the Farmers, Landowners, and Homeowners of WV by providing the opportunity to receive quality soil analyses and basic fertilizers and lime recommendations to improve the productivity of their land; grasslands, crops, gardens, landscapes, and more.

Services:

Currently the West Virginia University Soil Testing Laboratory processes approximately 10,000 samples each year. We pride ourselves with providing timely results to our landowners. Properly mailed samples following shipping guidelines provided by the WVU lab will have an average processing time of five to ten business days from the time of arrival. Slight delays may occur in the spring due to the higher volume of samples received.

The Lab currently offers the following tests:

Basic Soil Analysis	Method
pH and lime requirement	(1:1) and LR Mehlich 1
Plant available Phosphorous	Mehlich 3
Plant available Potassium	Mehlich 3
Plant available Calcium	Mehlich 3
Plant available Magnesium	Mehlich 3
Phosphorus Saturation index	Mehlich 3

Amendment Recommendations:

Lime requirement is given in tons of effective neutralizing value (ENV) lime per acre (Tons/A).

Nitrogen, Potassium (K2O), and Phosphorus (P2O5) to be applied in pounds per acre (lbs/A) or in Oz per 100 square feet (Oz./100 sq. ft.)

Additional Analysis (COST):

$6 - organic matter content- requires an additional 2 working days for processing (Loss on Ignition)

If you wish to have organic matter tested, please include a check for $6 per sample/bag made out to WVU Soil Testing Lab along with the soil sent to the lab. Please identify which samples are to be tested for organic matter.

$10 - for Basic soil analyses and recommendations for WV None-Residents. Reports will be send via email.

Payments: You can pay by check or credit card. For credit card payments, please call Ms. Teresa Warnick at 304-293-2961 or make all checks payable to WV Soil Testing Laboratory. Please send your checks with your soil sample and sample submission form.

Soil test reports are offered free of charge to West Virginia Residents, however we reserve the right to charge fees to private businesses, government agencies, and out-of-state samples. We strongly recommend that any resident sending more than 40 samples contact the lab at (304) 293-5375 to get approval prior to shipping. To avoid delays caused by high number of incoming samples, and to ensure your reports are produced as quickly as possible, try to mail your samples from early September through February.