The scale or resolution where distinct differences in soil test and yield parameters can be detected has not been thoroughly evaluated in crop production systems. This study was conducted to determine if large differences in soil test and forage yield parameters were present within small areas ( 10 000 kg ha -1 , Soil pH ranged from 4.37 to 629 within the 2.12 by 2133 m area at Burneyville and 5.37 to 6.34 at Efaw. No P or K fertilizer would have been recommended at Efaw using mean soil test P and K. The range in recommended fertilizer rates would have been 0 to 31 and 0 to 17 kg P ha -1 and 0 to 107 and 0 to 108 kg K ha -1 at Burneyville and Efaw, respectively, if recommendations were based on individual 0.30 by 030 m grid data. Significant differences in surface soil test analyses were found when samples were <1 m apart for both mobile and immobile nutrients.