Development of agriculture and the need for better environment require more soil samples being analyzed in shorter time for soil nutrient information, as a result, modernization of soil nutrient analysis is the way we must choose. This paper reviewed progress in application of universal extractants (such as AB-DTPA, 0.5 mol/L sodium bicarbonate, 0.01 mol/L calcium chloride, Kelowna, strontium-citric acid solution and water), application of instrumental analysis (such as flow analysis, capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography, atomic emission spectrometry and electrode) for soil nutrient analysis, and automation of soil sample collection and analysis in the last 20 years. However, mixing of soil sample and soil moisture determination are still two problems in the automation of soil nutrient analysis. To compromise between the analysis speed and the accuracy is recommended as the solution.