Step one to any successful food plot is the obtaining a soil sample, it's the most crucial part to the success of the entire operation.
Have you ever wondered how much a food plot costs? Like, truly every dollar spent from the first step to the last? The guys from Top Pin Outdoors are taking us through their mini-vlog series showing us every penny spent, every step of the way.
The first and most important part of a successful food plot is the soil sample. A soil sample will give you tons of information in regards to your soil quality. The pH of your soil is extremely important and we will discuss why in another video. Below is the first step as the guys plan to plant their fall food plots in Maryland.
Of course watching someone dig up dirt for five minutes isn't always the most fun part of the soil samples, but it's not about that. It's about taking the time to understand the process and why it is important to gather several dirt collections throughout your area you plan to plant.
The soil sample kit used in this video, as mentioned in the description, goes for $14 each. The cost of the shipping was $14.50 to send four soil samples. If you plan to do just one food plot, your cost will be much less for the shipping and of course you would only need one soil sample kit. In this video they used four soil sample kits and with the shipping the total cost was $70.50 or $17.63 per food plot.
With this being just a fraction of the total cost of the food plot, it's imperative to understand that it is also the most important.
The image above is the results that came from Whitetail Institute. This particular sheet is for one of the food plot soil samples that they performed in the video. Whitetail Institute received the shipment on a Thursday and had the results returned within 24 hours. It was a quick turn around with a great amount of information.
From the above information, I can determine exactly what we need. The type of food plot I will be planting and how much lime and fertilizer needed is all there. Doing things right the first time makes this much easier down the road.
Soil sampling makes for a much more successful food plot in the end. Overall, the seed and soil samples are probably going to be the least expensive part of the entire project. The most expensive will be the lime and fertilizer, but we'll get to that.
Be sure to subscribe to Top Pin Outdoors to find out exactly how much this entire project will cost.
Like what you see here? You can read more articles by Dustin Prievo here. Follow him and his hunting team, Top Pin Outdoors, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
NEXT: HOW TO PLANT A FOOD PLOT NOW TO BENEFIT YOUR FALL OUTLOOK
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