ALP: Improving the Quality of Laboratory Analysis

The most experienced provider of PT services in North America.

Laboratory Proficiency Testing

The Agricultural Laboratory Proficiency Program (ALP) Program is an international provider of proficiency testing services for agricultural testing laboratories. When considering a proficiency testing provider, consider the ALP’s advantages:

  • Professional provider

  • Accredited organization

  • PT samples

  • Actionable data

  • Collaboration

  • Technical support

Want more info? Call us!

  • 1-571-434-1925

  • alp@cts-interlab.com

Think your lab is a good fit?

Drop your information below and we’ll get in touch!

    Why choose ALP?

    ALP has the largest PT soil database for soil chemical properties pH, EC, P, K, SOM, PSA in North America.
    ALP is the only Ag Proficiency program that evaluates laboratory precision and bias across 63 soil analysis test methods.
    Accredited PT provider. The program is accredited under ISO-IEC 17043:2010 (International Organization for Standardization) the international standard for PT providers.
    Request Info

    ALP Advantages

    • The most experienced provider of PT services in North America.

    • Compliant with international accreditation, ILAC G13.

    • Recognized PT provider by state agencies and trade associations.

    • Professional proficiency provider, CTS 41 years experience.

    • Exclusive PT provider for ALTA Soil Analysis Certification (ALTA-SAC) Laboratory Certification.  Visit Alta.Ag for more information

    Accreditation

    The ALP program is the only accredited proficiency provider for agricultural laboratory testing services in North America under ISO-IEC 17043:2010 by ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB).

    Professional Experience

    Collaborative Testing Services has 44 years of experience operating proficiency programs, and the program Technical Director has 24 years of experience coordinating soil analysis proficiency programs, co-authoring eleven research publications on laboratory analysis, and chairing industry oversight committees.

     

    Proficiency Samples

    ALP proficiency samples are collected across North America representing agricultural lands diverse in chemical and physical properties. Plant PT materials represent a range of vegetable, grain, forage tree, and vine crops ranging varied in mineral and trace element contents. Water PT Samples represent wells, rivers, and irrigation systems.

    ALP’s Technical Director

    Robert O. Miller, Ph.D.

    Experienced Affiliate Professor with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Soil Chemical Analysis, Water Quality, Natural Resources, Compost, and laboratory Proficiency Testing.

    Request Info

    Actionable Data

    ALP provides meaningful lab proficiency reports each cycle (three per year) with statistical summaries on inter-lab, intra-lab method performance, and laboratory bias by sample matrices and analytical methods.   It is the only agricultural proficiency program that evaluates laboratory quality through the assessment of both method bias and precision.

    Collaboration

    The ALP program collaborates North American soil organizations. These include the NRCS, state Ag Programs, regional soil workgroups (SERA-IEG-6 , WERA-103, NEC-1007 and NCERA-107 ) the Soil and Plant Analysis Council (SPAC) and Agricultural Laboratory Testing Association, ALTA, ALTA.AG (formerly ISTA), and WEPAL.

    Technical Support

    Laboratories can seek assistance from the ALP Program Technical Director regarding analytical methods, instrumentation, quality assurance, and analysis issues.  Standard reference soil and plant proficiency materials with a Certificate of Analysis (COA) are available for purchase.

    Is your lab’s quality Important?