The soil nitrate quick test is a simple and low-cost DIY test. It provides a ballpark estimate of the soil nitrate-N concentration in the crop rootzone. Nitrate is a highly plant-available form of nitrogen. Using the soil nitrate quick test when N fertilizer decisions are being made will help narrow the range of fertilizer rates appropriate for a field.
Interpreting site-specific soil nitrate values depends on the soil's bulk density, the mixing solutions, and several other factors. This tool simplifies the process of interpreting a soil nitrate value so that users in the agricultural areas of California only have to select their location and input test results to receive an estimated lab soil nitrate value and an N fertilizer equivalent.
The tool is available now at: http://smallgrain-n-management.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/snqt/
For more information how to conduct a soil nitrate quick test see http://smallgrains.ucanr.edu/Nutrient_Management/snqt/
This repository contains the code for the R Shiny App that is the soil nitrate quick test web tool. While currently only available for agricultural soils in California, the underlying data is available for much of the US and the app could easily be adapted to provide information for other regions.
Please cite as
Nelsen, T., Rosa, G., & Lundy, M. (2020). The Soil Nitrate Quick Test Web-Tool [Computer software]. https://github.com/Grain-Cropping-Systems-Lab/UC-Small-Grain-Soil-Nitrate-Quick-Test-Tool