The Potash Status of Utah Soils
Abstract
Potassium is one of the essential plant nutrient elements. It is used by plants in the synthesis and distribution of carbohydrates and in the formation of proteins and oils. Potassium also seems to exert many of tis effects by influencing enzymatic activity in cells. The fact that potassium is being removed from Utah soils at a rather rapid rate raises the question as to whether any apprecialbe proportion of these soils are now deficient or are approaching a deficiency in this element. Some farmers, fertilizer salesmen, and others, have expressed a belief that many soils of the state are now at a deficiency level. Workers in the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station report that field experiments indicate no crop responses to potassium fertilizers and express that opnion that soil deficiencies in potassium are not common here. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate present information regarding the need for potassium fertilizers in Utah soils and to study some of the soil types in regard to their contents of available potassium and probable need for potash fertilizers in the near future.