The Cornell Nutrient Analysis Laboratory is now offering E-Soil Reports. The reports are an electronic version of the familiar Soil Test Reports that you receive in the mail. An E-Soil Report, however, is sent as Zip file attachment to your e-mail and contains the following:

• Soil Test Report (in PDF format)
• Laboratory Results (in Excel format)
• README.TXT (describes the files and data format in more detail)

Optionally, you can receive a Cropware Data file that you can import into Cornell Cropware, a free software program for farmers and consultants creating site specific nutrient management plans.

Question: How do I request an E-Soil Report?
Answer: Just select E-Soil Report on one of our submission forms and make sure you enter your e-mail address. If you are an Extension Educator, you will automatically receive E-Soil Reports for growers in your CCE area and crop specialties.

Question: Will I still get the printed report in the regular mail?
Answer: Yes. At this time you will still get the printed report in the mail. Though the E-Soil Report will probably come sooner because it does not have to go through the U.S. Mail. To help reduce printing and mailing costs (thousands of samples are processed per year), we will eventually be stopping the printed version for CCE Educators. We will let you know when this happens!

Question: Can I get E-Soil Reports from the last three years?
Answer: The E-Soil Reports are available only for future samples that come into our laboratory.

Question: How much do E-Soil Reports cost?
Answer: Nothing. They are free with the purchase of a Soil Test Bag, which are available through your local Cooperative Extension Office.

Question: What is a Zip file?
Answer: A Zip file is a type of file that can include other files. It is a good format to send as an e-mail attachment because you get one file instead of three or four files (for E-Soil Reports). Another benefit is that the zip file stores the other files very efficiently, so that it is typically much smaller in size. In Microsoft Windows, zip file names have a ".zip" extension. In Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, zip files are "understood" by the operating system. You can usually just double-click the file to open it. If you're using an earlier operating system you need to install a Zip file program.

Question: I got your e-mail but I don't see any attachment.
Answer: This is a new service that we are offering. Because it's new, there still may be some quirks that we need to fix in our soil report e-mail process. Please let us know if you did not receive an attachment so we can fix our programs. If you foward the report to someone else, make sure the Zip file is still attached.

Question: How else is the E-Soil Report different from the printed version I get in the mail?
Answer: Besides, the additional data files, the PDF version of the Soil Test Report has only slight formatting differences from the printed version. All the results and recommendations should be identical. If you find that there are any differences between the PDF version and the printed version you get in the regular mail, let us know so we can correct any problems.