N use

[1wlimo]

Ok re question about fall fert, I was just wondering how much N people use in a season

Most of the time I have applied no N to pasture, just used clover

however I did spend a year on a dairy on the west coast of Scotland, low frost area, high summer sunshine hours, and 80-100 inches of rain a year. There the grass got up to 300# per acre of actual N over the season.

 

[dun]

I would think that it mainly depends on the type of grass and the growing season. With fescue that gets a lot of fall growth it isn;t unusual for people to put on 50-60 lbs of N for the fall growth. We have a high clover component and if we do fall N it's only 30 lbs.

 

[LaneFarms]

Before the end of the year I will have put between 280 and 320 lbs of N out. This is going on bermuda grass on fine sandy soils.

 

[Jogeephus]

Before the end of the year I will have put between 280 and 320 lbs of N out. This is going on bermuda grass on fine sandy soils.

I hope this is for your hay and not for grazing.

 

[LaneFarms]

Before the end of the year I will have put between 280 and 320 lbs of N out. This is going on bermuda grass on fine sandy soils.

I hope this is for your hay and not for grazing.

Of course its for hay, cows aren't worth that much. My pasture will be doing good to get 80 lbs all year.

 

[inbredredneck]

Before the end of the year I will have put between 280 and 320 lbs of N out. This is going on bermuda grass on fine sandy soils.

I hope this is for your hay and not for grazing.

Of course its for hay, cows aren't worth that much. My pasture will be doing good to get 80 lbs all year.

How many tons Burmuda do you getharvested per year out of that $170.00 of N

 

[regolith]

dairy in SW Scotland is worlds away from raising beef in the US - and even for that area 300 lb/acre is pushing the edge of reason.

Dairy production - and in SW Scotland six months of the year it's heavily reliant on grass - requires a much higher base fertility than running suckler cows or stirks. When I was there it was common practise to apply a NPK pasture-blend after every grazing, but average use (fifteen years ago, can't say what it is now) of N would have been more like 150 - 200 units annually.

 

[1wlimo]

dairy in SW Scotland is worlds away from raising beef in the US - and even for that area 300 lb/acre is pushing the edge of reason.

Dairy production - and in SW Scotland six months of the year it's heavily reliant on grass - requires a much higher base fertility than running suckler cows or stirks. When I was there it was common practise to apply a NPK pasture-blend after every grazing, but average use (fifteen years ago, can't say what it is now) of N would have been more like 150 - 200 units annually.

I would think with the lower milk price higher N costs it would be lower there now. I as just trying to illistrate the differances I have seen. I have never seen grass grow any where else like it.

I was just interseted to see what those that use N do use.

 

[regolith]

fwiw, given I'm living in NZ now with good all-year grass growth - I've never seen grass grow like it can in early summer in Scotland. I've walked through thigh-high ryegrass in June that started growing in April.

 

[Dave]

There are lots of dairies here that put on 300 pounds of actual N per acre and more. Of course very little of that is in the form on commercial fertilizer it is mostly manure. A ton of dry matter forage that tests at 16% protein has a little over 50 pounds of nitrogen in it. Most of the dairies in this area get over 6 tons per acre of dry matter put up in the form of silage. They shoot for a minimum of 16% protein. So 6 tons at 50 pounds per ton would remove 300 pounds and that is not including the portion needed for plant health and growth just the portion removed in the forage.

 

[regolith]

Yeah, I was only meaning applied commercial fertilisers - manure or slurry was spread in addition, plus the cows were out there in the summer grazing and spreading their own fertiliser, plus there was clover in the pastures.
Standard practise was to cut the equivalent of the whole farm for silage (2/3 early summer, 1/3 late summer) to get through the winter.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Production improvement is a bit complicated if you like figur'in:
Response #/# depends on forage variety and season and what is your limiting factor.
More than 40#/application suppresses legumes.
I used to apply 40# twice a year - - but now I am down to none, or 40# once, depending on the paddock.

Forage value depends on cost of alternatives and class of livestock:
Hard to justify any commercial N for beef cows. Beef cow hay is less expensive than N in MN, but not everyone is set up to unroll hay every day, and hauling manure around eats into any benefit.
Nebraska published some numbers recently showing for that supplementing stockers on grass with DG was more profitable than fertilizing the grass. Makes sense, getting your energy directly and some extra manure too, but I don't think they were including any labor...

 

[inbredredneck]

There are lots of dairies here that put on 300 pounds of actual N per acre and more. Of course very little of that is in the form on commercial fertilizer it is mostly manure. A ton of dry matter forage that tests at 16% protein has a little over 50 pounds of nitrogen in it. Most of the dairies in this area get over 6 tons per acre of dry matter put up in the form of silage. They shoot for a minimum of 16% protein. So 6 tons at 50 pounds per ton would remove 300 pounds and that is not including the portion needed for plant health and growth just the portion removed in the forage.

What is this dry matter forage made from?

 

[LaneFarms]

How many tons Burmuda do you getharvested per year out of that $170.00 of N[/quote]

We will be close to 6 tons for an average.