Editors’ Forward: On August 30, ILSoyAdvisor hosted the webinar “Soil sampling is the first step to planning high yield soybeans.” The presenter, an agronomist with a commercial laboratory in Illinois, talked about measuring water and buffer pH to calculate lime requirements. The Illinois Agronomy Handbook references how lime recommendations should be made in the state, including both buffer pH and CEC/organic matter. We asked Dr. Robert Hoeft to explain the difference and why buffer pH isn’t necessarily recommended. Soil pH values given on a soil test report indicate whether the soil is acid, less than 7.0, or alkaline, greater [...]