Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council, or INREC, announced a new three-year nitrogen soil sampling project to help farmers in areas north of Des Moines fine-tune fertilizer use based on real-time soil nitrogen data. The initiative will study year-to-year variability in nitrogen availability and support targeted fertilizer management to help reduce input costs and improve water quality. The first phase begins this spring in Boone, Calhoun, Greene, Hamilton, and Webster counties, with expansion planned for additional watershed areas this fall. SoilView will conduct the soil sampling and laboratory testing. All data will be anonymized and shared with Iowa State University to support ongoing nitrogen research and the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative’s N-FACT tool.