snake67":28iq5fyp said:
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.