fertilizing hay and pasture

[BryanM]

ok, I got the results of my pasture and hay field back. the recommendations are almost the same, basicly it was recommended 19-19-19 at a rate of 300lbs an acre.

I have never fertilized properly, and we are talking hobby farm size total field and pasture size is 12 acres. so here is my question, do you think it will pay off fertilizing?

second question which is better foliar(spray) or ground (granular) fertilizer?

 

[skyhightree1]

Fertilizing can't hurt especially if results say that is whats needed. I prefer granular fertilizer for my pastures and hay fields.

 

[M.Magis]

How was the pH? Unless you have that where it should be, a lot of the fertilizer will be just wasted money.

 

[BryanM]

pasture- ph 6.5 buffer 6.9

hay- ph 6.6 buffer 6.9

not sure what buffer ph is?

 

[TerraceRidge]

In my opinion, properly fertilizing a hayfield is as close to a sure bet, in terms of the return on your investment, as you can get in agriculture. It is even more important to do when, as in your situation, land is a limiting factor.

 

[bigbull338]

are [putting the fert on a pasture or hay meadow.if hay meadow then yes id put it out.but personally i dont beleive in putting fert out.but this week we are putting out 4 tons of 17-17-19 at a rate of 200lbs to the ac.

 

[Jogeephus]

Keep things in perspective. Most soil tests are based on the maximizing production so you should take what they say and spread it out over your growing season. You may not want maximum production. A rule of thumb I use is 1 lb of N will give you a day of grazing. You can use this as a rule in a staggered application and it works well.

 

[BC]

I don't fertilize my warm season pastures, but do fertilize hay fields. Think of it this way - if you cut and remove hay from a field without fertilizing it is like writing checks on a bank account and never making a deposit. You are depleting the soil.

 

[Jogeephus]

I don't fertilize my warm season pastures, but do fertilize hay fields. Think of it this way - if you cut and remove hay from a field without fertilizing it is like writing checks on a bank account and never making a deposit. You are depleting the soil.

Ditto that. I rarely if ever do unless something gets out of whack. No need to pay to grow what you'll only have to mow.

 

[dun]

if you cut and remove hay from a field without fertilizing it is like writing checks on a bank account and never making a deposit. You are depleting the soil.

Excellent analogy, but even pastures get depleted over time. The cow doesn;t return 100% of the NPK to the pasture

 

[TexasBred]

I've always fertilized pastures. Hi protein grass gives much faster growth than lush green grass with half the nutritional value. Grass recovers much faster as well and lasts longer.

 

[Jogeephus]

I've always fertilized pastures. Hi protein grass gives much faster growth than lush green grass with half the nutritional value. Grass recovers much faster as well and lasts longer.

Good point but wouldn't it depend on what you are doing? In my case my pastures are more for maintenance of the cow and I'm not so concerned with how fast I can put pounds on them but how cheaply. Stockers would be a completely different thing.

 

[bigbull338]

i can dissagree with yall that not putting fert on hay meadows cut production wich can be right and wrong in some cases.we havent put fert out since 80 and it hasnt hurt or production.last year 65acs made 90 rolls in 1 cutting.15 of those acs we are bringing back into production.then we cut 50acs of that a 2nd time with the cows eating over half of the meadow and got 32 rolls.the cows ate 30 rolls of hay or more.cut 40acs once and it made 60 bales.so with normal weather we should make 200 rolls in 1 cutting.and 100 rolls the 2nd cutting without stressing the grass and thats without fert.the above 40acs couldve been cut again but we ran out of time.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I've always fertilized pastures. Hi protein grass gives much faster growth than lush green grass with half the nutritional value. Grass recovers much faster as well and lasts longer.

Nature is a complex collection of biology and minerals and moisture and energy.
The assumption with soil testing is that minerals are the weak link / the limiting factor / the place you should focus / the input you should buy...
The university tests for return on fertilizer investment are all over the map. Why? Because sometimes other things are limiting. :nod: There are some outstanding grazers who don't think fertilizer inputs have a good return.
Fertilizing in the spring is almost a sure thing because usually we are not moisture limited. Summer and fall are more of a gamble.
The mob grazing guys usually don't discuss why it works - - but their underlying assumption is that the soil biology has been limited by our (poor) management. :dunce:
The bale grazing boys are proud of buying hay (along with P & K) for less than the cost of production. :cowboy:
Jim G. and some Missory research boys did some good return on investment work in the past - - concluding that you could afford to fertilize for the most limiting mineral, but after that you should consider renting more pasture...
Cows do recycle most of the P and K, and renting pasture is not always a good option, so I:
1) bale graze for Pee
2) add some K and lime BASED on GRID TESTING as a long term investments
3) add N,S,B in the spring only for paddocks I graze first

 

[TexasBred]

I've always fertilized pastures. Hi protein grass gives much faster growth than lush green grass with half the nutritional value. Grass recovers much faster as well and lasts longer.

Good point but wouldn't it depend on what you are doing? In my case my pastures are more for maintenance of the cow and I'm not so concerned with how fast I can put pounds on them but how cheaply. Stockers would be a completely different thing.

Major calving time has always been February so great for milk production and maintenance. As soon as the calf starts nibbling it really shows in his growth. There is cost involved but I always feel I get better growth, higher milk production, faster breed back and improved body condition year round. Without the fertilize they do get highly digestible lush grazing but not nearly as much protein. Everybody sees it differently. This has just always been my preference.

 

[Jogeephus]

I follow what you are saying and agree to a point. What I often see are people applying fertilizer to their pastures and then the pasture grows faster than the cattle can eat it then the forage goes backwards unless you mow which costs money. When I see deep grass with age on it I can't help but think it wasteful. I try and strike a balance with the goal being to have them rotated around to fresh pastures with younger grass on it and never allow it to get overgrown. If I need to push the calves some I'll use a creep gate to let the calves slip into the fields I've fertilized for haying.

 

[dun]

I follow what you are saying and agree to a point. What I often see are people applying fertilizer to their pastures and then the pasture grows faster than the cattle can eat it then the forage goes backwards unless you mow which costs money. When I see deep grass with age on it I can't help but think it wasteful. I try and strike a balance with the goal being to have them rotated around to fresh pastures with younger grass on it and never allow it to get overgrown. If I need to push the calves some I'll use a creep gate to let the calves slip into the fields I've fertilized for haying.

So far my method of dealing with poor fertility (nitrogen) is when I start notcing green pee spots I seed clover real heavy. Cows eat it well and the next year the green pee spots are gone.

 

[Tim/South]

On hay ground I have found it pays to fertilize. We make more hay on less ground. I can get 1.5 rolls per acre or 4-5 rolls per acre. Takes the same time and wear to cover the same ground. The hay tests higher as well. Not that we always test our hay.
On pastures I fertilize 200 lb. per acre at green up then add 100 lb. of N as needed. I am running 1 unit per acre and need the grass. Cattle do better on grass higher in protein. We also fertilize our winter grazing. If I am going to plant it, I am going to feed it.