• Spring pasture herbage testing is used for detecting plant nutrient deficiencies.

• Taking a mixed pasture and a clover only sample will analyse grasses and legumes. Legumes are more sensitive to nutrient stress than grasses.

• Take a basic plant herbage test and a molybdenum test to identify if you have a B deficiency and to rule out any misdiagnosis of fungal diseases, such as ‘dryrot’ and Scelrotinia.

• Aim to take a sample of 20 to 30 leaves, avoiding sampling areas such as gateways, fence lines and obvious dung and urine patches.

• A Boron (B) deficiency in brassicas can cause root crops to develop soft brown centres, a disorder called ‘brown heart’.

Technical Specialist Angela Darke discusses the steps required for herbage testing.

Have you ever walked into a paddock of lucerne or clover and observed underperforming, stunted plants that are yellow in colour instead of green?

What is the most important nutrient a plant needs? The answer is the one that is the most limiting, called the ‘law of the minimum’.

Many enzyme processes in plants that are essential for growth and total yield are reliant on Potassium (K). Ensuring K is in adequate supply in a plant can improve a crop's or pasture’s ability to tolerate disease, pests, adverse soil temperatures and water moisture.