UGA Agricultural & Environmental Services Laboratories

The year was 1987. President Ronald Reagan was nearing the end of his second term. Coach Vince Dooley was in his 24th year as the UGA head coach. The Bulldogs went 9-3, beating Florida 23-10, and beating Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl. And, Gary Williams began a new job in the UGA Soil Testing Lab. Gary retired from the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory at the end of October with over 33 years of service. He saw a lot of change over the course of his car...eer: from rows of technicians measuring soil pH by hand, to automated instruments; from key-punch data entry to computer-connected instruments; and especially from atomic absorption instruments measuring one element at a time, to state-of-the-art inductively-coupled plasma spectrophotometers (ICPs) measuring up to 20 elements in a sample in seconds. The last several years of his career, Gary served as the primary ICP operator, analyzing soil extracts, drinking water samples, plant tissue digests, poultry litter samples, and anything else requiring nutrient analysis. Over the course of his career, Gary estimates that he analyzed over 2.5 million samples. He points out that every sample could be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars to a farmer in terms of fertilizer applied and crop yield. What we do matters, Gary says with an obvious sense of pride in his work. And, even beyond his sense of accomplishment, Gary expressed a deep satisfaction with his career. Not a single day did I dread walking in that door, he said. That is a strong testimony to a long and productive career. See more

Join us for the UGA Extension Webinar as experts discuss facts about Well Water Safety and recommended resources LIVE via Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/96350056401) Thursday, November 12 at 10:30 a.m.

There is an article on our Water Testing and Education Program in the latest issue (issue 10) of Extension Healthy Georgia Connections. https://t.uga.edu/67S

Here is the 2020 UGA Onion Yield and Flavor Report. The AESL crop quality laboratory performs all the onion quality analysis for this trial, which helps Georgia onion growers decide which varieties will produce the best, sweetest Vidalia onions every year! Link: https://site.extension.uga.edu//2020-yield-and-flavor-res/

Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory (AESL) Resumes Full Services (Effective 1 July 2020)

Dr. Uttam Saha has recently delivered an invited lecture, to both national and internal audience, bringing some unequivocal evidence about Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) as a very effective technique for forage analysis. Dr. Saha’s lecture was a part of the NIRS Webinar Series hosted the National NIRS consortium. The recorded version of the Webinar Series is here: https://www.nirsconsortium.org/

AESL Resumption Of Services

UGA helps produce growers with water quality calculations and education https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story.html?storyid=8365 Check out the FSMA water quality online calculator here: http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/calculators/FSMA/

Agricultural & Environmental Services Lab (AESL) Partial Reopening (effective 18 May 2020) aesl.ces.uga.edu

Due to reduced sample volumes and to limit the amount of time staff spend in the lab, the Soil, Plant and Water Lab will not be running samples Thursday and Friday, 2-3 April. The Feed and Environmental Water Lab will run samples on Thursday, 2 April, but will be closed on Friday 3 April. Limited services available for the last two weeks will resume on Monday 6 April. ... Soil, feed and water samples can be dropped off at either lab between 8:00 and noon on Thursday. On Friday, samples can be dropped off in the vestibule of the SPW building. While we are operating with limited on-site staff, our phones are all switched to voicemail. Messages are checked regularly between 8:00 and 5:00, and referred to the appropriate staff member for a response. You can also reach either lab at [email protected] or [email protected]. Emails are monitored from 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday, and you should receive a prompt response. We apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your support and understanding.

The AESL will continue to provide important services intended to support public health and food and fiber production. AESL is operating with a minimum of essential staff on reduced hours and range of services. Lab staff are practicing Covid-19 prevention practices and will come in only long enough to process samples and to read results. All research samples will be held until we resume full services. ***** For specific questions email [email protected]. ***** Drinking & wast...e water testing supports municipalities and public health. The lab will continue to offer tests W1, W2, W24, W33, W33C, and W35. Some results might be delayed. If you need additional specific tests related to public health, please email [email protected] to inquire about availability. Feed testing Tests F1, F2 and F3 for feed and forage samples will be continued, but results for nitrate-N and minerals might be delayed. Soil and plant tissue analysis Tests S1 and P1 will be continued to assist in crop fertilization and management decisions. Turnaround times might be longer depending on sample volume. Sample Receipt-Minimal staff will be available from 8:00 to 12:00 (M-F) to receive shipments. Individuals may drop off samples at designated areas outside of the laboratory buildings. Samples submitted for tests other than those identified above will be held for later analysis. County Operations will be notified of any change and any changes will be posted on web page (http://aesl.ces.uga.edu). If you have any questions about AESL operations or analysis please email [email protected]. Reuben B. Beverly AESL Director 2300 College Station Road Athens, GA 30602 706-542-5350

UGA Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories is open and in normal operations until further notice.

Georgia clients are encouraged to visit their local Extension office for sample submission and consultation. Locate your county office here: https://extension.uga.edu/county-offices.html

UGA Grad students Jill Mullican, Derrick Platero, and Rajneesh Sharma are working with AESL to develop precision farming and soil mapping methods. #precisionag

Dr. Jason Lessl discussing one of our Onion Project experiments with colleagues.