Fertilizer Prices

[littletom]

Does anyone soil test and apply custom blend fertilizer according to the results?

Yes often times have to turn it down some because of money. But it keeps me from buying what i already have. It's free here all your out is time pulling them. Commercial test show a removal and soil building recommend amount. The free extension test just recommend of a removal amount.

 

[littletom]

I crop farm as first job. So I am very interested in dirt and enjoy looking at soil samples. Web soil survey my favorite thing on internet.

 

[anewcomer]

Let me make a statement that is gonna upset some people, but I wish I had learned it a long time ago. Don't spend one penny on fertilizer, herbicide, seed or anything else until you have correctly sampled your soil and developed a plan to amend it to appropriate levels. If your pH, P and K are not right, even really good grazing management is going to struggle to improve your situation. Allen Williams can do it, but you probably can't. This is for areas where acres/cow is feasible for fertilization.

 

[TCRanch]

Does anyone soil test and apply custom blend fertilizer according to the results?

Yes. The Co-Op will come out & test before fertilizing. But we still ended up with considerably less last year, due to the epic drought. As did everyone else around here.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If your pH, P and K are not right, even really good grazing management is going to struggle to improve your situation. Allen Williams can do it, but you probably can't. This is for areas where acres/cow is feasible for fertilization.

Last sentence is key. How do you calculate fertilizer feasibility?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Does anyone soil test and apply custom blend fertilizer according to the results?

Lime here is largely priced by cost of freight.
N here is largely priced by the cost of natural gas.
P&K here is largely priced by what duopolies can charge corn farmers.
So, how does exactly following the soil test recommendations make economic cents for forage?

 

[jltrent]

I stopped by the Co-Op today and just asked for the current price of 19-19-19. It is currently at $813/ton.

Joe at Sneedville priced it to me for $760/ton and Joe the Coop manager will take care of you. He is a good guy. He had 15-15-15 for $650/ton and 12-24-24 for $780/ton.

 

[mwj]

Lime here is largely priced by cost of freight.
N here is largely priced by the cost of natural gas.
P&K here is largely priced by what duopolies can charge corn farmers.
So, how does exactly following the soil test recommendations make economic cents for forage?

All depends on the ''value'' of the forage.

 

[Silver]

Lime here is largely priced by cost of freight.
N here is largely priced by the cost of natural gas.
P&K here is largely priced by what duopolies can charge corn farmers.
So, how does exactly following the soil test recommendations make economic cents for forage?

When your soil fertility "falls off the cliff" you can get back to me on the economics of it.

 

[Stocker Steve]

When your soil fertility "falls off the cliff" you can get back to me on the economics of it.

i did the math. Soil testing good, exactly following recommendations bad.
My soil fertility is going up every year, and my yields are usually above break even, and I don't exactly follow the recommendations.
Following forage fertilizer recommendations - - which are full of assumptions and defaults - - is the equivalent of driving the posted speed on an ice-covered road.

 

[callmefence]

Does anyone soil test and apply custom blend fertilizer according to the results?

I do on hayfields initially. Our soil is unique to some in that we never have a need for k or lime. Apparently a advantage to lots of limestone. P is almost always needed especially if the ground ever had cotton on it. A cotton field that's been fallow since the 50s will be completely void of nutrients still 70 years later. A soil test will invariably show 60+ pounds of phosphorus needed. Once we get it right I seem to do okay replenishing about 20 pounds per year on hay ground. I don't expect to put much this year as lack of rain last minimized grass growth. I'm thinking last year's p should still be there.We,ll know soon. Nitrogen is applied as prescribed for the crop. No soil test needed. Raining this morning or I would have just answered with Yes, but once you learn you field you can pretty much guess it.
For producing hay I've never seen fertilizer to expensive to pencil out as long as adequate rainfall is received.
30-10-0 priced last week at 750.00

 

[pnw-farmer]

Soil tests are a tool in the management process not only tells you what deficiency land has but also what minerals levels are ok.
I asked for a recommendation from last soil test just for their input.
Ph is my biggest battle, land was x-mas tree farm for many years. ph was 5. up to 5.7 now.

 

[Brute 23]

Our area(s) is fairly easy. It usually just wants more nitrogen unless it was in row crop before.

I will say, IMO, soil tests are as good as your expectations. I was helping some people that insisted on haying some mixed, grass, old farm land. The recommendation was high. Even the fert guy didn't want to do it. It had disaster written all over it.

They did it, lost their butt but they are those kind of people sooo...

Some ground and grass is worth the investment. Some is not.

 

[anewcomer]

While the cost of fertilizer is dropping, it is still outrageously high. At these prices, it just does not pencil out for hay. Does anyone have a solution?

 

[anewcomer]

Steve, I was referring to the difference between the humid areas of the country, mostly east of the Mississippi, and the arid areas, where rangeland grazing is 50-100 or more acres/cow. Obviously, fertilizer is not feasible for these areas. Grazing management is about the only solution here, as Savory pointed out.

 

[pnw-farmer]

Seen a quote: "I am a grass farmer first and a cattle rancher second."

 

[anewcomer]

Some good thoughts on this thread.

 

[Dave]

I certainly believe in soil testing. Before retiring I did hundreds of soil test a year. I was a certified crop advisor through the American Society of Agronomy. But to me having the soil test and recommendations done by the same people who are selling you fertilizer is just not good business. Like telling a used car dealer you will pay what he wants before he tells you the price.

 

[pnw-farmer]

I certainly believe in soil testing. Before retiring I did hundreds of soil test a year. I was a certified crop advisor through the American Society of Agronomy. But to me having the soil test and recommendations done by the same people who are selling you fertilizer is just not good business. Like telling a used car dealer you will pay what he wants before he tells you the price.

My local agronomics sent soil sample to a Lab in Idaho. The local fertilizer dealers are working off their recommendations, or am I missing something?

 

[Dave]

My local agronomics sent soil sample to a Lab in Idaho. The local fertilizer dealers are working off their recommendations, or am I missing something?

If it is an independent lab and the dealers are working off their recommendations you are good. It is when the lab just does results and the fertilizer dealer writes up the recommendations based on the lab results that it becomes questionable.
With your pH in the 5's you need lime much more than fertilizer. Getting your pH up into the upper 6's will free up a lot of nutrients which aren't even showing up in your test results.