fertilizing pasture

[rjbovine]

On pasture that get grazed only. Do you fertilize with potash , phosphate and nitrogen ? Or just nitrogen ? I've fertilize both ways . With just grazing any soil nutirent should go back in the soil through the poo . What do you recommend ? Thanks rj

 

[chukar]

N will get the biggest bang for your buck....but u can have limiting factors if the others are off. What is ph is another thing.

 

[snake67]

Personally I believe in getting a representative soil test done for the huge amount - at least here - of about 60 bucks per 30 acre field and actually matching the fertilizer to what is needed to keep the grass growing well. Well worth the time and money.

I disagree with your comment about nutrients returning to the soil - it does not. And there are a ton of examples of this in almost every neighbourhood. Good pastures wear out over time.

Bez

 

[tom4018]

UK says for every ton of farage 10.5 lbs of N, 3.6 P and 16 K are removed.

Some nutrients return to the soil but not all, if they did then the cow would get nothing from it.

Do a soil test to get the best results, it may need more of one than the other. No matter how much nitrogen you put, if every thing else is off you won't see the best results.

 

[cowgirl_jenna]

We put a 50-20-50 n,p,k mix on in the spring. Soil test to determine your p,k, and ph. though and you can fertilize accordingly.
Jenna

 

[jasonleonard]

I got my soil tests back from Penn State... They are showing very low magnesium level. Fertilizer dealer says this can be corrected with high-mag lime application over time. Problem is my tests said ph's of 6.9 up to 7.3. Is there any other way to get the mag up through fertilizer since these ph levels are O.K?? I keep a good high- mag mineral out for my cows as this worries me a little.

 

[Dave]

UK says for every ton of farage 10.5 lbs of N, 3.6 P and 16 K are removed.

There are a lot of variables. Is it on a dry matter basis or as cut? What stage of growth? A ton of dry matter removed will have a lot more than those numbers listed. A ton of dry matter with 10% protein has 32 pounds of N in it. I have tested lots of grass silage from dairies that tested 16% protien which would have 51.2 pounds of N per ton of dry matter. Hopefully most people are grazing at an earlier stage of growth than those cutting silage, that would mean that the N number would be even higher.

I got my soil tests back from Penn State... They are showing very low magnesium level. Fertilizer dealer says this can be corrected with high-mag lime application over time. Problem is my tests said ph's of 6.9 up to 7.3. Is there any other way to get the mag up through fertilizer since these ph levels are O.K?? I keep a good high- mag mineral out for my cows as this worries me a little.

K-Mag is a high potassium, magnesium, and sulfur fertilizer.

 

[James T]

Personally I believe in getting a representative soil test done for the huge amount - at least here - of about 60 bucks per 30 acre field and actually matching the fertilizer to what is needed to keep the grass growing well. Well worth the time and money.

I disagree with your comment about nutrients returning to the soil - it does not. And there are a ton of examples of this in almost every neighbourhood. Good pastures wear out over time.

Bez

$60 for a soil test? That can't be right. But I agree that its extremely important. Here it's about $15 for the soil test and just let them know what your trying to grow and they make a recommendation based on the test results. Phosphorous takes a while to make its way down deep unless you can break up the soil and that action in itself can have some detrimental effects. As to nutrients returning to the soil, yes, some of them do. Depending on how heavy the load is on the grass (number of cattle, etc) you might want to do a soil test every couple of years to see how the soil nutrients are wearing. Cow manure in piles isn't going to do much good by themselves but if you can spread it out frequently, when its fresher, you might be able to retain some of its positive elements.

 

[Caustic Burno]

On pasture that get grazed only. Do you fertilize with potash , phosphate and nitrogen ? Or just nitrogen ? I've fertilize both ways . With just grazing any soil nutirent should go back in the soil through the poo . What do you recommend ? Thanks rj

I test and apply what is needed every year I believe you have to put back .
It used to be quite a bit at but as I destocked my biggest expense is lime and N.

 

[u4411clb]

My fertilizer dealer would be doing the test for free if he or she wanted to stay my fertilizer dealer.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Personally I believe in getting a representative soil test done for the huge amount - at least here - of about 60 bucks per 30 acre field and actually matching the fertilizer to what is needed to keep the grass growing well. Well worth the time and money.

I disagree with your comment about nutrients returning to the soil - it does not. And there are a ton of examples of this in almost every neighbourhood. Good pastures wear out over time.

Bez

$60 for a soil test? That can't be right. But I agree that its extremely important. Here it's about $15 for the soil test and just let them know what your trying to grow and they make a recommendation based on the test results. Phosphorous takes a while to make its way down deep unless you can break up the soil and that action in itself can have some detrimental effects. As to nutrients returning to the soil, yes, some of them do. Depending on how heavy the load is on the grass (number of cattle, etc) you might want to do a soil test every couple of years to see how the soil nutrients are wearing. Cow manure in piles isn't going to do much good by themselves but if you can spread it out frequently, when its fresher, you might be able to retain some of its positive elements.

Canada James, Canada. Free health care isn't quite as free as you think.

 

[bandit80]

My pastures have only called for N from soil tests, and I apply 10# of Sulfur every year as well. Sulfur will make for greater use of the available N, and if you apply gypsum to get your sulfur, you will get some Calcium buffers that help with soil PH. Most producers around here only apply N to their pastures, they seem to be OK on P and K. My pastures get a 60-0-0-10

My hay fields get an 80-20-50-10. Most of the time when a hayfield starts declining in production around here, it is due to a deficiency in K, provided moisture is adequate. And once you are deficient, it takes a long time and $$$$ to make up for it.

Best thing is to have a soil test done, and then go from there.