Low Soil test results for Sodium

[Stocker Steve]

I soil tested a field that is going into alfalfa next spring. It needs K and boron as expected, but it also tested very low for sodium. I have heard third hand of people putting salt on pastures to increase intake or reduce bloat. Do you have any first hand experiences with sodium as a fertilizer?

 

[Jogeephus]

Have used epsom salt before in fertilizer blends. Epsom salt is hydrated magnesium sulfate (about 10 percent magnesium and 13 percent sulfur).

Never heard of using plain salt or sodium chloride.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Good point on the content of "salt."

Some of the positive results reported by applying this micro nutrient are based on a mined material that probably has a number of other nutrients in it.

 

[dun]

On the same note but different. I've noticed that the past years there has been a more frequent requirement of sulphur then in years past. Could this be a result of the lower suplhur emissions from power plants, vehicles, etc.?

 

[Dave]

Low sodium is not a bad thing. The reason they test for sodium is that high sodium is a bad thing which you might have to take measures to fight. One of the problem in irrigated farm areas is high sodium soils. Very few plants thrive in high sodium soils.

 

[Stocker Steve]

On the same note but different. I've noticed that the past years there has been a more frequent requirement of sulphur then in years past. Could this be a result of the lower suplhur emissions from power plants, vehicles, etc.?

Yes. One midwest state published a general recommendation to consider annual sulpfur adds because the scrubbers were now removing (I remember 20# per acre) sulphur that had been free in the past.

 

[Jogeephus]

I have to put 15# of sulfur on each application. This is due to the scrubbers the EPA made the power plants install to prevent us from melting from the acid rain. I just wonder if our grass and crops can't grow well without this essential nutrient, how is the lack of sulfur affecting other non-managed plant communities.

 

[dun]

I have to put 15# of sulfur on each application. This is due to the scrubbers the EPA made the power plants install to prevent us from melting from the acid rain. I just wonder if our grass and crops can't grow well without this essential nutrient, how is the lack of sulfur affecting other non-managed plant communities.

What did the plants do for sulphur before coal fired elctric plants, automobiles, etc.?

 

[Jogeephus]

I have to put 15# of sulfur on each application. This is due to the scrubbers the EPA made the power plants install to prevent us from melting from the acid rain. I just wonder if our grass and crops can't grow well without this essential nutrient, how is the lack of sulfur affecting other non-managed plant communities.

What did the plants do for sulphur before coal fired elctric plants, automobiles, etc.?

Natural fires caused by lightning burned thousands of acres each year until rain extinguished them. Continuous burns kept woods clean and aided the nutrient recylcling and kept a constant supply of lush young growth for animals to nibble on. Smokey Bear and T.V lawyers have now successfully reduced these fires to the occasional catastrophe.