Know Your Soil’s True Health: An A&L Canada Laboratories Tech Direct Guide

Know Your Soil’s True Health: An A&L Canada Laboratories Tech Direct Guide

For a farmer to know the true health of their soil, understanding its bioactivity and overall capacity to help a given crop succeed should be their top priority.  At A&L Canada Laboratories, a one-stop shop for all your agricultural analytical testing needs, understanding your results and turning numbers into actionable solutions to help improve your crop is our main objective. AGvisorPRO is excited to have them on board as one of our newest Tech Direct Partners.

A history of getting our hands dirty

With a 30-plus year history in Canadian agriculture, A&L Labs has become known as a leader in the field of agricultural analytics and soil health. Research completed by A&L Labs has also demonstrated how improving soil health can have a direct correlation to increases in crop quality and yield.

 At A&L, our commitment is to drive positive outcomes for farmers. We are known as a leader for transferring knowledge to producers and agronomists to help drive best management practices which in turn promote crop quality and yield. Our research and recommendations are ‘field tested’ and validated by working shoulder to shoulder with Canadian producers in their local fields. While agriculture may often be reactive, A&L is focused on providing new tools and solutions to help producers farm more proactively, predictively and profitably into the future.

Our laboratory facilities in London, Ontario examine soil, plant tissue, feed, disease diagnostics and more; however, we have also established a dedicated biologicals division to help service this growing market sector. This new business has helped us obtain a much better understanding of the complex interactions that occur within the soil profile between the chemical, physical and biological states. By incorporating all of these data layers into new digital support tools, A&L believes that this information will be fundamental to producers and agronomists who are trying to get more out of their data. 

Next gen bio-health tests

Although customers of A&L Labs rely on us for the consistency, accuracy and timeliness of our analytical results; we have also developed two new tests to help better quantify soil health: The VitTellus Soil Health and the VitTellus Bio Soil tests are two new industry-leading tests that can be used to get a better understanding of your soil and biological activity below ground.

Developed by our in-house agronomy experts and scientists, the VitTellus Soil Health test analyzes your soil and then recommends custom-fit solutions to help agronomists make better recommendations related to nutrient application and management which can drive improved biological performance of your soils.

By utilizing geo-referencing to track where samples are taken from, A&L can then demonstrate where a producer’s soils excel and where there might be areas for improvement to help maximize productivity by focusing on the challenge areas within a field. Geo-referencing samples also means that one can track year-over-year changes within your fields, so you know how your land is performing relative to in-field management adjustments.

Similarly, the VitTellus Bio test, is a brand new offering from A&L labs for this year. The VitTellus Bio test builds on the original VitTellus test, but also incorporates an analysis and report of the microbial population found within the soil core. This information can then be used to gain a better understanding of the actual microbial activity within the soil zone and how those microbial colonies are aiding or impacting a crops top end performance. As A&L believes that the soil microbiome is the linchpin on which all farmers’ success is based, we think it’s important for you to understand more about what’s happening with your soil’s biological activity.

One-stop shop

What do you call someone with thousands of gigabytes of data and no answers? A farmer. The cruel reality is that farmers collect reams of data on numerous electronic devices, but it carries no value or meaning if the data is never used or interpreted. People use and trust A&L for a reason:  it makes sense to conduct data-driven business in one location and to maintain consistency with your data generation whenever possible. Our desire is to close the gap between the time (and expertise) in analytical testing, interpretation of results and providing field recommendations. Farmers are relying on use for decisions they want to make on this year’s crop. We view our relationship with producers as mutually beneficial: A&L does what it does best—analyze, interpret and create customized solutions and recommendations for agronomists. This lets farmers do what they do best—growing healthy, sustainable food profitably. 

One-stop shop

While our roots began in Ontario, Canada, A&L has been actively expanding across Canada and the USA, including adding additional support staff and field reps located in Western Canada. We also service a bevy of international customers and although soil types and management factors may be different across these geographies, our analytical methods factor for such differences in soil types to ensure our data is relevant and meaningful to your local growing conditions. A&L is well versed in crop production methods found nationally and internationally and we look forward to connecting with new customers across these markets, whether that is in-person or through AGvisorPRO’s app, A&L is ready to help give your farm the boost it deserves

The Tech Direct Solution with AGvisorPRO

A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. is an AGvisorPRO Tech Direct partner. This means that any farmer using the AGvisorPRO app can connect to A&L in a face-to-face session for free. While there’s certainly no shortage of ways for farmers to digitally connect with the information they need, AGvisorPRO is unique. AGvisorPRO connects farmers, industry, and independent expertise into one user-friendly app. This means farmers can find the advice they need easily, connect to the right people quickly, and get from question to answer faster.

To connect with A&L or any of our Tech Direct partners, consider downloading the AGvisorPRO app. If you want to see what AGvisorPRO can do for you, one of our knowledgeable team members would be happy to give you a walk-through. It’s as easy as looking us up in your app store or visiting our website. With A&L and AGvisorPRO in your corner, when it comes to soil health, you will get the right answers from the right people, at the right time. Stop wasting your time on hold with 1-800 numbers, and start getting the answers you need, now.