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Madison County
UGA Extension Office

Diagnostic Services

We provide testing for:

Several services are offered through the Madison County Extension Office.

  • Soil Testing
  • Water Testing
  • Feed & Forage Testing
  • Seed Germination (Sent to Georgia Department of Agriculture Laboratory)
  • Weed Identification*
  • Insect Identification*
  • Plant/Crop Diseases*
  • Turfgrass Diseases*
  • Tree Disorders*
  • Plant Identification*

(an * denotes services that are usually free of charge)


Publications on our testing services:

Soil Testing

Water Testing

Feed & Forage Testing

Poultry Litter Testing 


Soil Testing -

  • Routine Soil Test - $8 (pH, fertility recommendations)

  • Organic Matter - $10

  • Other tests available upon request.  Contact our office for more information.

Clost-up of several brown paper soil bags labeled "The Univeristy of Georgia"

Here's a video with Walter Reeves describing the benefits and basics of soil testing.


Water Testing -  

  • Basic-$22.00 (Water Hardness, pH, minerals)
  • Expanded-$64
  • Bacteria-$38.00 (Total Coliform & E. Coli)
  • N03  (Nitrate)- $13.00
  • N02  (Nitrite) - $13.00
  • Lead- $43.00
  • Home Loan Closing-$90
  • Radon-$35.00

Other tests available upon request.  Contact our office for more information.


Two plastic water sample bottles against a black brackgound. The bottle on the left is opaque whete with a sealed lid, while the one on the right is clear with a white cap and a label marked "ID Collector Chlorine."

Please contact the Extension office at (706) 795-2281 prior to submitting water samples to insure proper sampling protocols are met.


Forage Testing -

  • F2 (Crude Protein, Total Digestible Nutrition, Relative Forage Quality (RFQ), & Nitrate) -  $22.00 
  • F14 (Nitrate only) - $14.00 

A close-up of a large round hay bale in a grassy field with several other bales in the background. On top of the hay bale are tools used for hay sampling: a hay probe, a sealed plastic bag containing a hay sample, a cordless power drill, and a white plastic bucket. The scene is set on a sunny day with a clear blue sky and a tree line in the distance.

Other testing services:

Plant Tissue -

  • Plant Tissue Nutrient Testing- $27.00 (Used to troubleshoot crop production issues)

Pathology Analysis (Disease Identification) -

These samples are submitted to the UGA Plant Pathology Clinic.
  • Homeowner Samples - $10.00
  • Commercial Samples - Free

Soil & Water Pesticide/Trace Analysis - 

Our lab can determine possible pesticide or heavy metal contamination, these tests are expensive (~$100 per test), and you need to have some idea of what pesticide or heavy metal you're testing for.