Home of the Haney Test

HOME OF THE HANEY TEST

Soil Regen is your education and training resource for understanding the Haney Test.

Want to understand how to take a Haney Test, what the Haney Test measures, how to read your results, or how to build a soil system around them? You’re in the right place.

Test kits and sample processing are handled by our lab partner, Regen Ag Lab.

Understand the science, read your results, and build a soil system around the Haney Test.

Pull your sample, ship it, and get results from our recommended lab partner.

What the Haney Test Measures

The only soil test that tells you how alive your soil is and what that's worth to you in dollars.

Most soil tests only tell you what nutrients are sitting in the ground right now. The Haney Test measures that, but it also looks at how alive your soil is, how well its microbes are processing nutrients, and how much of that food your plants can actually use.

This matters because biology drives nutrient availability. Two fields can show identical nutrient numbers on a standard test but perform completely differently, because one has a living army of microbes releasing those nutrients and the other doesn't.

The Haney Test combines everything into a Soil Health Score you can use to easily monitor the impact of your management practices and translate those insights into actionable strategies for your farm.

The Four Pillars That Determine Your Soil Health Score

1 Soil Respiration

How hard your microbes are breathing, measured as the CO2 they release after the soil is dried and rewetted.

2 Water-Extractable Organic Carbon (WEOC)

How much food your microbes have on hand to do their work.

3 Water-Extractable Organic Nitrogen (WEON)

How much nitrogen your microbes can actually supply to your crop.

4 C:N Ratio

Whether that carbon-to-nitrogen balance lets your microbes release nutrients to your crop, or hold onto them instead.

Inside Your Report:

DOWNLOAD REPORT DEFINITIONS (PDF)

30 lbs

Across 100,000+ samples, the Haney Test has found an average of 30 lbs more available nitrogen per acre than traditional testing.

How To Pull a Haney Test Sample

Good lab work can't fix a bad sample. Here's how to do it right the first time.

Sampling technique affects your results as much as the lab analysis does. Follow these seven steps for every Haney Test sample you pull.

1 Gather clean equipment.

Use a clean, rust-free soil probe, spade, or shovel. A probe gives you the most accurate depth control; with a spade or shovel, take a furrow slice. Clear away vegetation and residue before sampling. Avoid lubricants like WD-40 on your tools; they can skew results.

2 Choose a representative area.

Sample zones with similar soil type, topography, and cover; skip problem spots that don't represent the field. Soil temperature should be at least 50°F. Example: if a field is 50% one soil type, 30% another, and 20% a third, pull cores in roughly that same ratio.

3 Pull the core.

Insert the probe straight down at a 90° angle (no twisting on the way in) to your target depth (0–6" or 0–8" are most common). Give it a quarter turn, then pull straight out. If the soil is compacted more than 1" inside the probe, toss that core and try again. You don't need to clean the probe between cores unless it's clogged or the soil is wet.

4 Combine and mix.

Pull at least 10 cores per sampling area. Mix them thoroughly, then bag a 2-cup subsample in a plastic-lined paper soil bag or a plastic bag (sandwich bag, Whirl-Pak, etc.).

5 Label everything.

Use a unique identifier (location or number) that matches your submittal form exactly, and note the test type and sampling depth along with your name, address, email, and phone number. Write labels with a Sharpie or pen before sampling so they don't smear.

6 Store it right.

Keep samples cool and shaded for up to 2 days, refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, or freeze them if shipping will take longer. Microbial activity, the heart of this test, degrades fast if samples aren't stored properly.

7 Ship it.

Pack samples and submittal forms together in a box and ship via a standard carrier. 2–3 day shipping is recommended.

Submitting Your Sample

Get the submittal form and ship your samples directly to our recommended lab partner, Regen Ag Lab (31740 Hwy 10, Pleasanton, NE 68866 | regenaglab.com | 308-440-1681).

You can also submit to another certified lab that runs the Haney Test; just confirm their specific submittal and sample-prep requirements first, since they may vary slightly from what's outlined here.