**2023 PAP Accredited Lab for Soil Testing (Performance Assessment Program)
New pricing effective as of April 1, 2022. Please read the Fees Per Analysis PDF below or contact the lab (Soil.Lab@oregonstate.edu) if you have questions about fees.
- How to Collect and Submit a SOIL Sample
- Soil Submission Form (PDF)
- Volume Requirements (PDF)
- Fees Per Analysis (PDF)
- Interpreting Results
- Video on OSU Soil Testing & Interpretation (Lane County Master Gardeners)
- Varies by submission size and analyses selected.
- Basic and advanced nutrient analyses of garden and grower-scale submission size are generally completed in 4 - 5 weeks once samples are received in the lab.
- If you plan to submit a large submission, please contact the lab for more up-to-date turnaround estimates. We can do our best to work with your priority of analyses and send out data on a rolling basis.
Mail samples AND Soil Submission Form to:
OSU Soil Health Lab
3017 Ag Life Sciences Bldg
Corvallis, OR 97331
- Samples AND Soil Submission Form can be placed in the Submission Drop Box outside of our laboratory door, Agricultural Life Sciences Bldg Room 3079.
- Plastic bags, sharpies, and extra submission forms are available if needed.
- Drop-off hours are Monday-Friday 9AM - 3PM.
- Contact the lab AFTER drop-off to alert lab personnel to check the Submission Drop Box.
- Ring the doorbell if you need assistance.
- View the All Fees Per Analysis for a full view of all analyses offered or scroll down to see soil-specific analyses.
- Pricing is per sample AND varies by submission size.
- A discount is given for submissions of 16+ samples.
- Turnaround time for RUSH analysis varies by sample submission size. Contact the lab if you'd like to do a RUSH analysis.
- Contact the Lab Manager if you'd like to receive a formal quote.
You MUST contact the lab BEFORE shipping out-of-state samples. We need to confirm whether the samples are coming from an area that is federally regulated by the USDA APHIS program and may pose a biological threat to the soils and plants of our region.
Soil Packages
*Sample Preparation (grinding, sieving, drying) is an additional $5/sample for all sample submissions.
| Package | Contents | RUSH Analysis |
Price per sample for 1-15 samples |
Price per sample for 16+ samples |
| Western/Eastern OR Basic Nutrient | pH, lime req, ammonium-N, nitrate-N, P, K, Mg, Ca, total C and N, organic matter estimate | $178.50 | $61.00 | $50.50 |
| Western/Eastern OR Advanced Nutrient | Basic + Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe, B | $215.00 | $75.50 | $62.50 |
| Complete Assessment of Soil Health | pH, EC, organic matter estimate, total C and N, nitrate-N, P, K, Mg, Ca, texture, potentially mineralizable nitrogen, active carbon, wet aggregate stability, microbial respiration | $141.50 | $128.50 | |
| Basic Soil Health Assessment | pH, texture, total C and N, organic matter estimate, wet aggregate stability, respiration | $85.00 | $81.50 | |
| Soil Microbial Assessment | microbial biomass, microbial respiration, active carbon, B-glucosidase activity | $90.00 | $76.00 | |
| Soil Physical Assessment | Texture, wet aggregate stability, moisture | $65.50 | $61.00 | |
| Heavy-Metal Analysis | Total As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn | $119.50 | $36.00 | $28.50 |
Individual Soil Analyses
*Sample Preparation (grinding, sieving, drying) is an additional $5/sample for submissions of 16+ samples.
Chemical Properties
| Analysis | Description | RUSH Pricing per sample | Price per sample for 1-15 samples | Price per sample for 16+ samples |
| pH | acidity or alkalinity of soil | $10.00 | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| Lime requirement-Sikora buffer | Buffer pH | $17.50 | $6.50 | $5.50 |
| Electrical conductivity (EC) | conductivity of soil salts in solution | $10.00 | $7.00 | $7.00 |
| pH+EC | $15.00 | $9.00 | $8.50 | |
| Extraction-simple soil | Varies by nutrient and often needs an additional analysis (colorimetric or ICP) | $19.00 | $9.50 | $9.00 |
| Plant available Phosphorus (PO4-P) | Colorimetric analysis for Bray+Olsen extractions | $35.50 | $13.00 | $11.50 |
| Plant available Ammonium (NH4-N) | Colorimetric analysis for KCl extractions | $30.50 | $8.00 | $6.00 |
| Plant available Nitrate (NO3-N) | Colorimetric analysis for KCl extractions | $29.50 | $7.00 | $5.00 |
| NH4-N + NO3-N | $59.50 | $15.00 | $10.50 | |
| Elemental analysis by ICP-OES | Determination of elemental concentrations | $100.00 | $22.50 | $15.50 |
| Total Carbon and Nitrogen | Total CN and organic matter estimate by Elementar | $34.00 | $22.50 | $21.00 |
| Potential Cation exchange capacity | Exchangeable acid + base cations | $61.00 | $58.50 | |
| Effective Cation Exchange Capacity | Exchangeable base cations | $86.00 | $24.50 | $18.50 |
| Microwave digestion | Nitric acid digestion for total elements | $20.00 | $14.50 | $14.00 |
BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
| Analysis | Description | RUSH Pricing per sample | Price per sample for 1-15 samples | Price per sample for 16+samples |
| Organic matter | Loss-on-ignition | $12.00 | $8.50 | $8.50 |
| Active Carbon | Involved in nutrient cycling and defense | $27.00 | $16.00 | $15.00 |
| Microbial biomass | Bulk biomass of soil microbial community | $36.50 | $31.00 | |
| Microbial respiration | CO2 release over 96-hour incubation | $13.50 | $13.50 | |
| Potentially mineralizable nitrogen (7-day) | N mineralization after 7-day incubation | $17.00 | $16.00 | |
| Potentially mineralizable nitrogen (28-day) | N mineralization after 28-day incubation | $16.00 | $14.50 | |
| B-glucosidase enzyme | Microbial activity indicator | $26.00 | $18.00 | |
| ACE Protein | Microbial activity indicator | $12.50 | $12.50 |
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
| Analysis | Description | RUSH Pricing per sample | Price per sample for 1-15 samples | Price per sample for 16+samples |
| Bulk Density | Requires submission of sample with known volume | $3.00 | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| Texture by Hydrometer | % sand, silt, clay | $25.50 | $17.00 | $16.00 |
| Texture by Sieve & Pipette | More sand + silt fractions that hydrometer method | $43.00 | $40.50 | |
| Water Stable Aggregates | Aggregate stability after rain simulation | $51.50 | $36.50 | $35.50 |
| Moisture Release Curves | Soil moisture release measured by HYPROP | $128.00 | $123.00 |