ISO 14820-1 Fertilizers and liming materials — Sampling and sample preparation — Part 1: Sampling

ISO 14820-1:2016 specifies sampling plans and methods of representative sampling of fertilizers and liming materials, to obtain samples for physical and chemical analysis. It was published on 11 April 2016.

Its scope covers packages and containers up to and including 1 000 kg, fluid products, and fertilizers in bulk provided the product is in motion. Where national or regional legislation requires sampling to be carried out in accordance with this part of ISO 14820, the methods here become the compliance method.

The standard applies to lots supplied or ready for supply to third parties, whether as delivered or broken down into smaller lots. It does not attempt to cover complete statistical sampling plans — it defines how a representative sample is physically obtained, not how many samples a statistical acceptance scheme would demand.

Sampling is where disputes about fertilizer quality are won and lost. A test result is only as good as the sample it came from; a sample drawn from the top of a bag or from a segregated corner of a heap will produce a number that says more about the sampling than about the product. This is the reason the sampling standards are treated as foundational rather than administrative.

Read alongside Part 2, which covers sample preparation, and Part 3, which addresses sampling of static heaps — the case the original two parts left out.