Soil Health Lab Offers Sap Analysis for Plant Health and Pest Resistance

Soil Health Lab, an ag consulting company based in Soledad, California, began offering sap analysis last year and has used it to successfully control pests in Braga Fresh’s organic brassica crops. 

“Sap analysis results are utilized to fine-tune fertility programs and increase plant health by looking at all macro- and micro-nutrients, whether they are in excess or deficient,” says Soil Health Lab’s Member Manager Eric Morgan. “Our agronomy staff can provide fertility programs to address the excess or deficiency issues. Improved crop quality, yield, cosmetic appearance, and resistance to insects and disease are the outcomes.”

Eric Morgan, Member Manager, Soil Health Lab

Founded in 2001 by Morgan, Soil Health Lab (formerly Morgan Consulting) offers pest control and soil health advising services, with a major focus on reducing nitrogen use to comply with local regulations on California’s Central Coast.

“Soil Health Lab’s mission is to assist growers with compliance issues related to the Central Coast Regional Water Control Board ag order,” says Morgan. “We are also working in the soil health/plant health arena as improving soil health and plant health helps growers comply with environmental regulations that are affecting farming.”

Regenerative sweet baby broccoli Braga Fresh is growing as part of their CDFA Healthy Soils grant

Soil Health Lab’s customer base is primarily in the Salinas Valley, but the company also began working in the Imperial Valley in 2022 and is available for work in both foreign and domestic markets. While Soil Health Lab specializes in vegetable crops, it has recently been expanding into tree, vine, and hemp crops.

“Soil Health Lab’s mission is to assist growers with compliance issues related to the Central Coast Regional Water Control Board ag order. We are also working in the soil health/plant health arena.” - Eric Morgan

The company offers same-day soil nitrate, ammonium, and pH testing and provides fertilizer recommendations that are tailored to the 4Rs—right fertilizer source, right rate, right time, and right place. And in 2022, Soil Health Lab began offering plant sap analysis (through its partnership with NEWAGE Laboratories), which Morgan says can be very beneficial for organic growers.

Morgan points out that sap analysis provides a better level of insight into plant health than soil and plant tissue analysis. “Sap analysis looks at the nutrients as they are moving inside the plant before they arrive at their destination in the plant,” he says. “This gives us the ability to forecast future deficiencies and evaluate excessive levels of macro- and micro-nutrients.”

Eric Morgan, Jenny Garley (Chief Science Officer, NEWAGE Labs), and Paul Zerbe (Vice President of Agronomy at Soil Health Lab)

Last year, Soil Health Lab began working with Braga Fresh on its organic brassica crops, using sap analysis to help address an aphid issue.

“Braga Fresh started using sap analysis in September 2022 and went aphid free in brassica crops until January 2023,” says Morgan, who notes that the aphids returned after Braga had to discontinue its nutritional spray program due to heavy rains preventing tractors from accessing the fields.

“Sap analysis looks at the nutrients as they are moving inside the plant before they arrive at their destination in the plant. This gives us the ability to forecast future deficiencies and evaluate excessive levels of macro- and micro-nutrients.” - Eric Morgan

So Braga decided to start making aerial foliar applications on its most aphid-affected plantings. “With weekly foliar nutritional applications by air, they turned multiple plantings around, and the plant health increased to a very high level, and the aphids were ejected out the top of the head,” Morgan says. “We measure plant health with Brix. Aphids do not feed on crops with Brix above 6. The frequent air applications got the Brix to elevated levels—in one case up to 10.”

“With the implementation of sap testing this season, Soil Health Lab’s agronomy staff was able to recommend a fertility program that has assisted in the reduction of cabbage aphid populations in our organic brassicas,” says Kyle Harmon, Braga’s director of farming. “It’s been really hard to find cabbage aphid this year. The crops look great.”

Broccoli with aphids where the aphids are pushed out of the top of the broccoli head

Morgan says Braga’s sap analysis also revealed a potassium deficiency in its organic brassicas that developed after this winter’s heavy rains. “Last year fall and early this winter, their potassium levels were adequate. But after 20-plus inches of rain, potassium levels fell, and it took time to revise the nutritional program to bring back the soil potassium levels,” Morgan recalls. “On the fields we got potassium levels back up with the addition of foliar nutritional sprays and revised soil-based amendments.” 

Morgan has a very positive outlook on the organic produce category, predicting it will continue to grow over the next 25 years. “Conventional producers will increasingly turn to organic production as an alternative to the regulatory burden associated with conventionally grown products,” he says. “Consumers’ preferences will shift from conventional to organics as millennial and Gen-Z individuals continue to reject the status quo and use their buying power to support the brands and practices they support.”

“We measure plant health with Brix. Aphids do not feed on crops with Brix above 6. The frequent air applications got the Brix to elevated levels—in one case up to 10.” - Eric Morgan

In terms of potential challenges for the organic industry, Morgan says California’s upcoming definition “regenerative” could be an issue. “Consumers need to be made aware of the distinctions between ‘organic’ and ‘regenerative,’ especially if conventional technology including GMOs are allowed under what will be defined as ‘regenerative.’ Organic growers and shippers need to be ‘organic’ first and then choose to incorporate ‘regenerative’ practices (beyond what they already do as part of their organic certification) as they see fit.”