Interpreting my soil test results

Hi all, looking for some insight understanding the results of my first soil test. This is for a grassy urban lot in a residential area. Nothing but mowing has been done to maintain the land for the past three years; I'm not sure of its history prior to that but I imagine it was minimally maintained. I'm hoping to plant some native perennials and semi-dwarf fruit trees/shrubs this spring, and would love any advice y'all have to give for soil amendment strategy based on the following.

Modified Morgan soil test done by Dairy One Labs through Cornell Cooperative Extension

Organic matter: 10.07%
pH: 6.82
Phosphorus: 105.5 ppm
Potassium: 190 ppm
Aluminum: 3.7 ppm
Manganese: 10.9 ppm
Magnesium: 472.2 ppm
Zinc: 22.8 ppm
Iron: 2.8 ppm
Calcium: 5270.9 ppm

CCE's only recommendation was to stop excessively fertilizing to get my P and K levels in check, but again, I have never fertilized. I'd appreciate any thoughts!

Hi Morgan,

Welcome to Permies.

Welcome to Permies!

I am not a soil test expert but I did a little googling and it seems that between 3%-6% organic material is what is found in agricultural land. Maybe that is what they meant by fertilizer?

I have experience reading tests. I guess the question is what are you looking to grow?
10% OM is a lot. That should indicate that it has a ton of moisture holding capacity. I will be honest, it seems high. As far as the other numbers go, it just tells you what the contents of the soil are.  There are many more indicators on whether the soil is worth a darn. What do you see as far as worm life? You would really need someone that can do soil analysis with a microscope to tell you what life is or isn't present. Look for someone who has Soil Food Web School under their belt.
Where are you located exactly? You can send a sample to the Soil Food Web School for just that. You also need to know what the fungal to bacterial ration is. That will tell you what kind of plants the soil will support ( annuals, shrubs, trees).
I speak as a grad of the SFW School. I am in central WI.
If you like you can message me and I can give you some insights. You really need to have your soil looked at with a microscope. That will unlock the whole shebang.

Hope this helps.

Good Growing

Okay,, here we go...

First thing you should do is take your report to your local County Extension Service office and talk to the Extension Educator or also known as the County Agent. That person will tell you exactly what to plant & how to deal with the clay soils. You have my condolences for having to deal with that stuff!

I will interpret your report now. My comments will be in parentheses.

(First off, where is the Nitrogen levels? How can anyone assess soils without having a full soils report.)

Organic matter: 10.07% (Very low. Should be built up a lot more using compost initially. For 6 acres, doing minimum tillage can build up your soils OM as well. No-Till or Direct Seeding is the ultimate method to build up your soil OM.)

pH: 6.82 (On the acidic side but not bad. You may need to dou multiple or continuous applications of lime to your land.)

Phosphorus: 105.5 ppm
Potassium: 190 ppm
(Both are high. If you choose to go the no-till way, these numbers will come down. You can also find crops that "mine" the soil nutrients. This is a good possibility. But I won't or can't give a better interpretation without the N level.)

Aluminum: 3.7 ppm (Not sure why this in the report.)

Manganese: 10.9 ppm
Magnesium: 472.2 ppm
(Your Mn levels are well within the proper levels, maybe even a bit low. But you Mg levels are doubled the amount necessary (200 ppm). Plant crops that can takes the Mg out of the soil.

Zinc: 22.8 ppm (20 to 70 ppm zinc is well within the necessary range. Talk to your Extension Agent about it.)

Iron: 2.8 ppm (At 2.8 ppm, you are well within the range of 2 - 10 ppm of Fe.)

Calcium: 5270.9 ppm (You have extremely high levels of Ca in your land. Ca should be present in the soils at levels of 430-540 ppm.
The ideal levels of calcium in soil is 600-1,000 parts per million for other types of soils such as clay. Work with your Agent to get those levels decreased.)

I hope this helps you,
Hoppy