Soil pH can have a big impact on nutrient availability, affecting both applied fertilizer and resident soil fertility.

The proper pH range for a corn-soybean rotation is approximately 6.0-6.5, while crops like alfalfa and other legume forages benefit from slightly higher pH in the 6.8 range. 

Soil pH is often defined as the power of the hydrogen ion and is based on a logarithmic base of 10. In other words, a shift lower in pH by 1...