Sunland Analytical |
Sunland Analytical was incorporated in 1989 and was founded by Dr. Gene Oliphant and Mr. Randy Horney. Sunland Analytical was established with the foundation of careful, quality-controlled analysis. The founders also recognized that quality alone was not sufficient. To provide real service to customers the analysis should be done in the shortest possible time. To this end, the analysis that Sunland provides was limited and streamlined such that the analyses routinely takes a shorter time than the industry norm.
As a very focused company Sunland offers consulting and analytical services associated with soil, plants and water to the agricultural, landscape, natural habitat restoration, environmental, and geo-engineering industries. Its staff is composed of scientists, agronomists, chemists, and computer experts who consult with a variety of industries, providing specialized agronomic, environmental, and geo-engineering analytical testing, as well as, expert consultation in the areas of agronomy, soil chemical and physical properties, irrigation, plant nutrition, and plant pathology.
Annually, Sunland Analytical analyzes thousands of soil samples and has completed more than a million analyses. In most cases Sunland provides specific recommendation for soil amendment based on the results of these analyses. Such recommendations include typical farm crops like corn, tomatoes, rice, almonds, walnuts, kiwis, grapes, dates, as well as atypical crops like "giant" pumpkins. The scope of recommendations also includes soils for landscaping purposes, e.g., a desert cactus garden in Phoenix, a rain garden in Portland, a park in Los Angeles, roadway median strips in Sacramento, or a home in any town. The landscape consultations include many home sites where clients want to grow a wide variety of plants with divergent soil requirements.
Sunland routinely provides soil analysis and consultation for restoration or reclamation of sites that have very specific requirements. For instance, a need to grow a specific natural grass on a sandy, salty, seaside slope or promote root growth of grass on a levy to limit erosion. Because of the diversity of soil conditions, each consultation leads to specific solutions or combinations of solutions. Among many others, the solutions may require a gypsum application for a soil with high Sodium, or a lime application for pH that is too low, or planting clover to act as a natural source of Nitrogen for other plants.
Sunland Analytical has collaborated with the University of California, Davis (UCD) to develop, both for the University and Sunland Analytical, the latest techniques for use of GPS, non-invasive electromagnetic soil evaluation, and selectively statistical optimal soil sampling methodology. Sunland's staff has produced publications on these efforts, including: “Development of Site Specific Management for Reclamation of Salt Affected Soil Utilizing Preliminary EM-38 and Core Soil Sample Data” and “ Use of Yield Monitoring to Evaluate Site Specific Management in Reclamation of Salt Affected Cotton Field”.
Sunland Analytical has worked with a variety of private business as well as governmental agencies and in varied capacities over the past 25+ years. This includes, but is not limited to, the California Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Water Resources, State of California Department of Parks, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.D.A./ Department of Forestry, and a variety of Counties, Cities, Park and Recreation Districts, School District and athletic facilities throughout the States of California, Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.