does this sound right
- Thread starter plbcattle
- Start date
Cowdirt
Well-known member
plbcattle":390rid4p said:
All tests that I have submitted require less nutrients for maintenance than for establishment. Looks as if your soil needs no potassium. Too bad, it's normally cheaper than N and P.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Mine always comes back year after year from Texas A&M as needing 95-0-0 for established coastal fields . I take those results to the old timer at who mixes my fertilizer, who knows this area, and get him to do a mix. He also adds boron, zinc, manganese and copper because it is so cheap anyway. This year I am going liquid for my own pastures and granular on the leased pastures.
Dave
Well-known member
That sounds like way too much P. Very little P gets removed with the grass crop because it is used primarily in the roots. If you put on 90 pounds to start and 80 pounds per year after that you will have excessive P in your soil in no time. I know of states that wont allow CAFO's (big dairies, chicken farm, feedlots) apply manure on ground that test over 30 ppm of P. That first 90 pounds will put you over 30 ppm.
novatech
Well-known member
What are you planting? Legumes require a lot of P. Grass establishment requires P for root growth.
My test came back needing 70 lbs. P in the fall for clover and another 30 lbs. P for grass in the spring. This is for establishment.
My test came back needing 70 lbs. P in the fall for clover and another 30 lbs. P for grass in the spring. This is for establishment.
tytower
Well-known member
The Fertilizer companies have got you guys by the balls for sure.
Everything is there ,just needs to get water air and some nutrients and natural decay back into it,
Try a small area say 5 acres ,cut a square of sod out about a foot deep and record the topsoil profile with a digital camera .Pour in a bucket of water and time how long it takes to dissapear
Apply a liberal amount of Dolomite and leave for a month
.
Intensive graize it every time the grass gets near to full growth and keep this up for 2 years.
Have a close look at it then and cut up a cubic foot of sod again test and record it.
Let me tell you you will be surprised..
If you decide to do the whole farm here's what to do.
To get best results for the above spread the dolomite first ,a one time thing. Use a chisel plough and rip with tynes at 1 foot spacing and 3 inches deep all over diagonally both ways .
A year later do it again but with 6 inches depth
A year later do it again with 9 inches depth
A year later have a look . Active topsoil to 9 inches with everything in it working like mother nature intended
Everything is there ,just needs to get water air and some nutrients and natural decay back into it,
Try a small area say 5 acres ,cut a square of sod out about a foot deep and record the topsoil profile with a digital camera .Pour in a bucket of water and time how long it takes to dissapear
Apply a liberal amount of Dolomite and leave for a month
.
Intensive graize it every time the grass gets near to full growth and keep this up for 2 years.
Have a close look at it then and cut up a cubic foot of sod again test and record it.
Let me tell you you will be surprised..
If you decide to do the whole farm here's what to do.
To get best results for the above spread the dolomite first ,a one time thing. Use a chisel plough and rip with tynes at 1 foot spacing and 3 inches deep all over diagonally both ways .
A year later do it again but with 6 inches depth
A year later do it again with 9 inches depth
A year later have a look . Active topsoil to 9 inches with everything in it working like mother nature intended
Herefordcross
Well-known member
Those test results are completly out of whack compared to what our samples show here in the east, I can't imagine putting that much N down just to correct the soil
Earl Thigpen
Well-known member
Good God, folks. I'm almost afraid to say what my soil test came back as a requirement for N. 170lbs/ac!!!!!! and 90-0-90 top dress after each cuttin'.
Sounds to me like I need to better practice soil management.
Sounds to me like I need to better practice soil management.
Earl Thigpen":3slwjbsv said:
More like grass managment. Some grasses need a high level of fertility to do worth a hoot, others require less. The Bermuda type grasses apparantly require a whopping shot of N after each cutting. In the environment we were involved with alfalfa the fiels were hit with super phospate after each cutting and nothing else.
dun
Dave
Well-known member
Earl, that 170 pounds of N wouldn't scare me. Grass removes about 50 pounds of N per ton of grass. With a little loss thrown in that is only 3 ton of hay. If you want protein in your hay there has to be N in the soil. The P and K numbers that get tossed around here make me scratch my head. It is being applied at a rate way higher than crop removal. The way some people apply the K it is no wonder that they have grass tetany problems.
