The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool: A relational database and decision interface tool

Abstract

The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) Project is a collaborative effort involving most land grant institutions, USDA branches, nonprofit organizations, and private industry. The FRST objectives are to develop a soil fertility community of practice, preserve soil test correlation and calibration data in a relational database, and develop a decision tool to provide consistent soil test interpretations. Released in April 2024, the interactive tool acts on an evolving database that contained 1455 P trials, 1316 K trials, and 143 S trials from 44 states and Puerto Rico by March 1, 2025. Decision tool outputs include an interactive county-level map of available data and an estimated critical soil test value. The FRST relational database is a repository for soil-test-based P, K, and S data to support data-driven management recommendations. Continued success of the FRST project and decision tool utility rely on collaboration and support from the soil-test-based nutrient management community.