Broiler litter on hayfield

[shaz]

I'm about to put 2 tons of litter/acre on a hayfield. If that amounts to 110/56/42 respective pounds per acre it leaves me with a problem:

I'll still have to add about 80lbs N and 80lbs potash at some point this year. When would be a good time to do this?

I'll cut around May20th, mid July and whatever time in Sept.

Is chicken litter N release slow enough that I could add some nitrogen and potash now?

Thanks

 

[JustSimmental]

What kind of grass are you growing and what is your pH?

For warm season grasses >

With an NPK of 110/56/42 I wouldn't put anymore N out until after the first cutting. I wouldn't put anymore P out the rest of the growing season.

I would put out an additional 30-50 lbs of K per acre now, then after the first cutting put out an NPK of 75/0/90. We do put out some Sulfur, depending on the lime index and optimal pH, it just depends.

N leeches fairly quickly, so split your applications
P doesnt leech at all, usually.
K can be a leecher, as well, so split these up.



JS

 

[shaz]

Thanks,
My PH is around 6.1. This field is fescue but will grow Johnson grass after first cutting with little fescue in the mix. Last year I didn't fertilize at all until after first cutting due to having drying problems in early May.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

What kind of grass are you growing and what is your pH?

For warm season grasses >

With an NPK of 110/56/42 I wouldn't put anymore N out until after the first cutting. I wouldn't put anymore P out the rest of the growing season.

I would put out an additional 30-50 lbs of K per acre now, then after the first cutting put out an NPK of 75/0/90. We do put out some Sulfur, depending on the lime index and optimal pH, it just depends.

N leeches fairly quickly, so split your applicationsP doesnt leech at all, usually.
K can be a leecher, as well, so split these up.



JS

commercial nitrogen does,, with litter its slower,,, if i was using litter i wouldnt add a dam thing that stuff is the shiznit :cowboy:

 

[Dave]

Actually the only portion of N that will actually leech is the nitrate (NO3). There is very little NO3 in fresh manure or dry litter. It has to convert to that form. That process requires moisture and tempurature. NO3 is also the most plant available form of nitrogen so if applied during the growing season the plants will most likely take it up before it has the oppurtunity to leech.

The main loss of nitrogen from an application of chicken litter would be the volitilization of ammonia off into the air. Stand down wind of a field where chicken manure is being spread and breath deeply. What you smell is nitrogen leaving. Hot, dry, and windy weather will increase volitilization. Cool, wet, and calm weather will decrease it. So apply accordingly.

Further, it is difficult to spread 2 tons per acre evenly. That is a very light application in terms of volume applied to area. Splitting this into two applications would make it very difficult if not impossible to get an even application with most equipment.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Actually the only portion of N that will actually leech is the nitrate (NO3). There is very little NO3 in fresh manure or dry litter. It has to convert to that form. That process requires moisture and tempurature. NO3 is also the most plant available form of nitrogen so if applied during the growing season the plants will most likely take it up before it has the oppurtunity to leech.

The main loss of nitrogen from an application of chicken litter would be the volitilization of ammonia off into the air. Stand down wind of a field where chicken manure is being spread and breath deeply. What you smell is nitrogen leaving. Hot, dry, and windy weather will increase volitilization. Cool, wet, and calm weather will decrease it. So apply accordingly.

Further, it is difficult to spread 2 tons per acre evenly. That is a very light application in terms of volume applied to area. Splitting this into two applications would make it very difficult if not impossible to get an even application with most equipment.

you must not be using the same type as equipment to spread with as we use here
we spread 1 ton per acre all the time with NO problem but then we use regular litter beds with rate controllers and guidance sytems
I

 

[alabama]

Actually the only portion of N that will actually leech is the nitrate (NO3). There is very little NO3 in fresh manure or dry litter. It has to convert to that form. That process requires moisture and tempurature. NO3 is also the most plant available form of nitrogen so if applied during the growing season the plants will most likely take it up before it has the oppurtunity to leech.

The main loss of nitrogen from an application of chicken litter would be the volitilization of ammonia off into the air. Stand down wind of a field where chicken manure is being spread and breath deeply. What you smell is nitrogen leaving. Hot, dry, and windy weather will increase volitilization. Cool, wet, and calm weather will decrease it. So apply accordingly.

Further, it is difficult to spread 2 tons per acre evenly. That is a very light application in terms of volume applied to area. Splitting this into two applications would make it very difficult if not impossible to get an even application with most equipment.

you must not be using the same type as equipment to spread with as we use here
we spread 1 ton per acre all the time with NO problem but then we use regular litter beds with rate controllers and guidance sytems
I

It is hard to put out even if you have to drive the spreader truck holding your nose. PPPPPP UUUUUUU

 

[Dave]

It takes roughly 2.5 cubic yards to make a ton of chicken littler. To spread that volume evenly over an acre it would be less than a quarter inch thick. With a side slinger it will be thicker near the truck and lighter out away. With rear beaters one would have to be going pretty darn fast to get that low of a rate. The guys who I get chicken manure from don't want to do less than 5 yards per acre. Less than that and there is significant tiger striping in the field. And they know what they are doing. Just under 1 million layers. They spread a lot of chicken manure.

 

[Angus Cowman]

It takes roughly 2.5 cubic yards to make a ton of chicken littler. To spread that volume evenly over an acre it would be less than a quarter inch thick. With a side slinger it will be thicker near the truck and lighter out away. With rear beaters one would have to be going pretty darn fast to get that low of a rate. The guys who I get chicken manure from don't want to do less than 5 yards per acre. Less than that and there is significant tiger striping in the field. And they know what they are doing. Just under 1 million layers. They spread a lot of chicken manure.

That could be the difference the layer litter here has no bedding as it is what we call caged litter where as the broiler and grower litter we use has bedding and it is easier to spread because you have more volume per ton
I have been using it for several yrs at these rates and have never noticed any striping of the fields

 

[Kingfisher]

Further, it is difficult to spread 2 tons per acre evenly. That is a very light application in terms of volume applied to area. Splitting this into two applications would make it very difficult if not impossible to get an even application with most equipment.[/quote]

Thanks for your post.l That is what I was thinking........he really ain't spreading much.

 

[shaz]

Well, I could go 3 tons/acre. That should give me 150lbs/N but it leaves me low in potash but puts my phosphate through the roof.
Does anyone think 3 tons is a bad idea? I'm limited to 100tons litter total. That would be 60tons on this field and 40 tons to go elsewhere.

 

[Angus Cowman]

if you had it available I wouldn't hesitate to put on 3tons pr acre

 

[ALACOWMAN]

if you had it available I wouldn't hesitate to put on 3tons pr acre

me to neither..that stuff will make the soil rich as cream, but id keep a spray rig close by. it'll wake up every seed in the country

 

[shaz]

Got a bunch of 2-4-D ready if it ever stops raining AND the wind stops blowing. Ragweed is bad in field right now.

 

[hillrancher]

Shaz, If you will put 4+ ton per acre you will grow enough grass to pay the bailing bill and if you miss a year you will still have hay. We buy and spread our own litter and have a soil test done on every thing ever three years. If on the step 2 ton is all the adeq will allow and on level in hay field 4+ tons. As for as streaking after the first year you cannot tell .I have to add N on bermudia and johnson grass the other grasses haven't had to add.

 

[shaz]

Thanks, I'm limited to 100tons right now but I may can get another 40-60 later in the year around Aug. At some point shouldn't I be worried about a VERY high phosphate level?

 

[bigbull338]

around here they spead 3 to 4 tons of litter pre ac.

 

[hoss_ross]

Thanks, I'm limited to 100tons right now but I may can get another 40-60 later in the year around Aug. At some point shouldn't I be worried about a VERY high phosphate level?

It will take a lot of years to realize the high P from litter. Where I'm from in the hills of NC, we do have high P fields where they don't allow litter anymore. However, litter has been spread there for 40+ years and at rates of sometimes 12 ton/acre (not the norm, but has been done). If your starting P index from your soil test is below 100, you're going to be just fine for your lifetime spreading at 5 ton/acre.

 

[Wewild]

Ours is bought by the load. I guess they are 16' beds with rear spreaders and we spread a load to the acre for the most part. How much litter is in a truck that size? I'll have to walk off the bed to be sure maybe 14. Going rate around here is about $40 per load and they tack on mileage which varies some by year and supplier. We don't add anything else. Just the litter.

 

[shaz]

Ours is bought by the load. I guess they are 16' beds with rear spreaders and we spread a load to the acre for the most part. How much litter is in a truck that size? I'll have to walk off the bed to be sure maybe 14. Going rate around here is about $40 per load and they tack on mileage which varies some by year and supplier. We don't add anything else. Just the litter.

It's 10 tons per load. Actually, I'm starting to worry if my suppiler isn't just feeding it to a bunch of holstein steers. He hasn't shown up yet but the wheather is not good.