Best way is to ask them. A quick Google found the following info for the Riverside Co. Extension office:

http://ceriverside.ucdavis.edu/

There will normally be a fee in most states. Here in MO it's about $10-$15 and varies depending on what analysis you want done.

Doubtful they will care what county you live in, unless for some reason the fees are different, etc.

As far as depth, you should talk to them about that before sampling.

Our start at $20 and $30 and $60 for more detailed tests. (i.e. lead testing). I sent mine in 2-days ago.

I called and discovered that CA State does not offer soil testing via extension services. One private lab wanted $80 to do bare min. acidity test and want more if other things are to be tested. I am not spending that kind of money.

Anyone in Riverside County had luck in soil testing for around $10-$15? if so I would love to know.

Thanks

Most places, for a nominal fee ($10 - $15, or whatever), you'll get a basic test, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Locally, Southern Oklahmoa, they use one pint sample bags (with attached 'check the box' tags and a spot for your namme and addy). You can go to the office and pick up the bags,or you can take a soil sample - in a clean and covered container - to the extension office and fill the bags, there.

Additional tests, such as soil testure, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, sulfer, boron, etc, are separate tests which cost extra. A 'comprehensive' test, including all of the separate items, each with separate fees - with a few tests grouped under one fee - would cost between ninety and a hundred bucks.

Here, the extension office sends the sample(s) to OSU for actual testing. Test results are sent to my snail mail addy in about ten to fiteen days.*

(*No warranty implied or offered. Your mileage may differ. Batteries not included.)

If your state agricultural university, Cooperative Extension Service, no longer offers soil testing it is because some people have determined that the university was in competition with privately owned labs and they should not be. Dropping soil testing has nothing to do with budgetary issues since part of what people studying soil science do is test soils as part of their studies.
If I recall the Universtiy of Connecticut will do soil testing from outside Connecticut.

We send people to private soil test labs as it's not done through the WSU Extension. County conservation districts sometimes offer basic soil tests to residents but I think they send them out to private labs to do the actual work. State university soil labs will not care where you live so don't worry about that. Here are the labs we direct people to:

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Test Labs

Felder Rushing's "Slow Gardening" says âÂÂYou donâÂÂt have to have your soil tested.â Elsewhere I have heard that soil test were for "The Constipated Gardner" (Fraud, anal retentive, get it?). I studied agriculture in high school and soil testing at university as a graduate. I think soil tests or for professionals. If you are gardening for sustenance dig into you pocket and put out the price, otherwise forget it and have fun.

Kimmsr, you are so wrong about who does the soil testing at most research universities. It's NOT done in the classroom, nor would it be part of any student curriculum. Some students may be given those little toy soil kits to play with as part of their studies but the university soil labs are much more sophisticated than that.

Extension service budgets have been slashed all over the country, some locations suffering more than others. Soil testing for home gardeners is just one of the departments that haven't made the cut in some states.

My (CA) extension office no longer offers testing.
To get one done means sending the soil off to a lab at a cost of $30-35. Each of my raised beds was filled with different soil, different years, so one soil test wouldn't be accurate.
I just add as much home made compost/goat poop etc and cross my fingers! So far, so good. Nancy

When visiting Michigan State University several times as part of the Master Gardening program we were often shown the labs where soil testing was being done by students in the soil science program, graduate students and not first year granted. There simply is no way the Agricultural schools could afford to have on hand enough technicians to do the soil testing they do. Since these universities also catalog the results of these soils tests it aids them in profiling the states soils and what is happening with them over time. Learning how to do soil tests is part of the learning process for any one in a soil science program.
Knowing about your soil and the nutrients that are in it should be a given. If your soil contains unbalanced nutrients your plants can be more susceptible to insect pest and plant disease problems. Applying nutrients that are not necessary is a waste of your money, time, and energy.

I would not be surprised if the university labs hired students part-time to do that work, but that's different from the classroom. I did the same thing as a chemistry major, working part time in a lab analyzing rocks and ores. For quality and consistency I would not want my sample analyzed by some random student in a classroom setting.

They do save money hiring students and the facilities (read ivy covered buildings) are long since paid for, so they can charge less than commercial labs.

I can confirm the cutting of Extension budgets, I'm good friends with a muckety muck in our state Extension office and it's been a tough few years around here.

I found a place that will do a soil test for 20 dollars if you live in the riverside corona area. You can drop off the sample at their office in riverside ca. This is their website you can find more info here- www.rcrcd.org