Moisture Testing Like a Pro

Aug 09, 2024
By Farms.com

Photo Credit: GroPoint

Better understand your soil with this multifunctional moisture tester.

Byline: Nevan Hagarty,
GroPoint

Droughts and floods are two weather extremes that farmers are very familiar with. After either weather extreme it is important to know how your soil is recovering.

One of the most important aspects of healthy crop yield is ensuring that soil is at the proper moisture and salinity levels. Soil moisture sensors are ideal for utilizing, planning, and identifying the need for irrigation systems, as well as identifying problem areas where soil contains too much or too little water.

The GroPoint Pro all-in-one soil moisture tester is a cost-effective solution that provides accurate, reliable data in a sleek and robust package. This piece of equipment not only measures the average volumetric water content of soil but also conducts temperature and salinity (electrical conductivity) readings.

With the option for custom calibration and additional functionality, as a wetting front detector to ensure that crops are receiving adequate moisture, the Pro series of moisture testers are the ultimate solution to better understanding your soil.

Specifications:

Moisture Measurement Range: 0-100% VMC
Moisture Accuracy: +/- 2%
Salinity/EC Range: 0.0-4.0 dS/m
Salinity Accuracy: +/- 3%
Temperature Measurement Range: -20°c - 70°c

Experience minimal soil disruption with the sleek design of GroPoint products, and patented TDT5 technology ensures accurate readings, time after time. A low power requirement also means that the Pro Moisture Tester is perfectly suited for passive and autonomous applications, with remote functionality.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.