Forage news

[dun]

http://www.leblink.com/~dunmovin/december-2005.pdf

And a response from an agronomist at U of MO:

The article generally supports our Missouri recommendations,
however those recommendations may be changing slightly. Peter Scharf,
John Lowry, Robert Kallenbach and Regional Specialists have been working
on revising our soil test recommendations (especially for N for hay and
pasture) - may turn out to be a bit more conservative than in the past,
not considering the cost of N. (dry N is down to $.38/lbs. as of 11/29
in Central MO).

Also, when comparing Penn State forage research with Missouri conditions
we should remember that their growing season is more favorable to cool
season grasses than ours. Our soils and wicked summers play heck with
guessing what our yield goals should be. I think it's pretty safe
though to count on a ton of forage in a well managed stockpile
situation. And, for that situation, this data is probably applicable to
Missouri, although I don't know of any $80/T. fescue.

Not a lot of N applied this late summer ($$$$) though, and we still got
pretty good recovery and growth in the better soils and stands
(especially where soil P, and O.M. is good from previous turkey litter
applications).

 

[Stocker Steve]

I spent some time trying to understand how much nitrogen I could afford to put down in 2005. The number of pounds of dry matter per pound of N applied varies with the forage type, the time of year, the weather conditions, the grazing residual, the stand vigor and ... Agronomists ignore a lot of these variables and give you an average split application pounds per acre number.

My best bluegrass estimate was that I could afford to apply urea in the spring, but it was cheaper to buy hay in summer and fall. The hay growers have maintained or reduced prices in my area due to a good crop this year. (Southern note: fescue does respond better to N than bluegrass.)

I gave the oil companies the finger this fall, used up most of the fuel in the our tanks, bought some hay, and then loaded up on poultry litter. We'll see how the pastures look in the spring. One neighbor complained that it smelled in his deer hunting tree stand but I told him it was free cover scent!

 

[Dave]

I worked out the numbers and for me the N in chicken manure was only on third the cost of commercial. And I got all the P, K, Ca, OM, etc thrown in for free. The other thing is commercial fertilizer tends to acidify your soil. Manure, particularly layer manure raises the pH because of all the calcium fed to the birds.
Dave

 

[Stocker Steve]

I worked out the numbers and for me the N in chicken manure was only on third the cost of commercial. And I got all the P, K, Ca, OM, etc thrown in for free. The other thing is commercial fertilizer tends to acidify your soil. Manure, particularly layer manure raises the pH because of all the calcium fed to the birds.
Dave

We see a huge range in fertilizer content due to the amount and type of bedding used in growing barns. Did you actually test the N/P/K content of your manure?

 

[Dave]

Yep, I have tested the nutreint content a number of times. The layer manure is real consistant, but they are in high rise cages so it is straight manure. This is the main one I use because there is a huge egg operation very near me. The broiler manure is like you say, variable do to the bedding. But even with the variability it pencels out to be cheaper than commercial fertilizer.
The layer manure tests about 3-2-3. I get it for $8-9 a ton spread. As these bigger operations get more pressure from EPA and others with the new confined animal feeding operation rules they are going to have to find more acres for their manure. They are going to become a real cheap source of nutrients.
Dave