If you've recently purchased a farm, and you don't know what's in your soil, you may have problems that you don't know about. Looking at your soil only gives you part of the equation. It's not until you know everything you can about your soil that you get the whole equation to work with. You might not realize this, but the soil on your farm affects a variety of things including water safety, crop production, and even livestock health. If you haven't had your soil bored for a sample test, you need to have that done as soon as possible. Here are just four of the reasons why you need to know what's in your soil.

Protect the Health of Your Livestock

If you're growing crops for your livestock to eat, you need to know what's in your soil. Contaminants, excess minerals, or even not enough minerals, could be creating a situation where you're growing crops that are unhealthy for your livestock. Unfortunately, if you're feeding unhealthy hay and grains to your livestock, you could be looking at a disaster. Protect the health of your livestock by having your soil sampled.

Allows for Proper Application of Fertilizer

When it comes to your soil, you need to know what you're dealing with before you can provide the proper application of fertilizer. You see, the type of soil you have will determine the amount of fertilizer you can safely use. For instance, if you have soil that has a high clay content, you have a heavier soil, which means you can safely use more fertilizer during planting season. However, if your soil has a high sandy loam content, you have a light soil, which means you'll need to cut back on fertilizer during planting season. Knowing this information can save you time, money, and frustration during the planting season.

Provide Productive Crop Rotation

When you grow crops, the soil is depleted during each growing season. Each type of crop depletes the soil of specific nutrients. If you continue to grow the same type of crop year after year, your soil will eventually become so depleted of vital nutrients that your crops will no longer produce a sufficient yield. In fact, your crops might not grow at all. That's why it's crucial that you rotate your crops every couple of years. By having your soil sampled, you can identify the nutrients that are being depleted, and rotate your crops accordingly.

Ensure Clean Water

If the water for your farm is provided by a private well, you need to know what's in the soil. The groundwater that feeds your well will contain whatever is in the soil. Unfortunately, that means if your soil is contaminated, your water will suffer, and so will you. Having your soil sampled will allow you to monitor the health of your well water. It's also a good idea to have your well water tested at the same time.

Contact a company, like Uni Tech Drilling Company Inc., for more help.