Take a tupperware container set and test the water supplied to the field for PH value using a pack of litmus papers, then test the four corners and center of your field by scooping up some dirt, adding some water, and testing with litmus paper. Next, drain out the water and let it evaporate and look for signs of crystalization or condensates. Seal some of your soil samples to see if a healthy soil biome blooms in the sample, fungus and such.

A good healthy soil will have a strong biome. It and its water supply should be close to PH 6 to 7 for most tall grass and similar crops. There should be little to no saline in your soil, signs of that might indicate a brine pit forming in the water table near your land.

The most valuable crops are crops that you can process yourself rather than selling to a granary. For examples: milled flour, corn byproducts, alcoholic ingredients, or switchgrass fermented into propionic acid biofuel. The major downside to being your own processor is that you’re also you’re own distributor which is very difficult.