Got my soil samples back and was looking for some input.. This is about a 12 acre block of grazing pasture. Hay has been cut on it for the last 8 years and has been fertilized yearly.. The soil sample recommended application rate was 60 lb/acre nitrogen , K was 100 lb/acre, and Phos was 50 lb/acre.. Ph was 5.7 but recommended no lime? How would you go about spreading this? 150lb potash, 100 lb triple super phosphate, 130 lb urea, or would you just do 300 lb 19-19-19?? would you go ahead and lime it with 1 ton/ acre since its on the acidic side even though it was not recommended?
pasture questions
- Thread starter schamblee
- Start date
kenny thomas
Well-known member
In my soils lime is needed at 2 ton per acre. Im not understanding why no lime is recommended. Its unlikely you can get lime spread at less than 2 ton per acre anyway.
If you can get it mixed take the soil sample into wherever you buy fertilizer and let them mix it correctly. If you cant get it mixed do the triple 19 and add some K. Most areas that has been in hay will be deficit in K.
If you can get it mixed take the soil sample into wherever you buy fertilizer and let them mix it correctly. If you cant get it mixed do the triple 19 and add some K. Most areas that has been in hay will be deficit in K.
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yea, its pretty acidic so I feel like it could use some as well. May go ahead and do a ton/acre to stay ahead of it.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
If 1 ton helps 2 ton will help a lot. Where are you located?
M.Magis
Well-known member
A pH at 5.7 but with no lime recommendation with a would have me questioning everything on the analysis.
WFfarm
Well-known member
We've always done 2 ton lime/acre at one time. We prefer to do it in the fall to give time to active. If your PH is that out of wack, you may be wasting money on fertilizer. We've seen hay fields not improve with fertilizer application when the PH was too low.
Little Joe
Well-known member
An older gentleman that used to sale fertilizer and lime in my area told me years ago that if your soil samples call for lime and fertilizer and you can't afford both, always put out lime. A ph of 5.7 definitely needs lime and as @kenny thomas stated, might as well do 2 tons/acre. I like my ph 6-7 and preferably closer to that 7. As @M.Magis stated, if they recommended no lime with that ph, I would question their other recommendations.
EasTex
Well-known member
Can you put lime out with cattle on the pasture?
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Yes, lime wont hurt them at all.
Dave
Well-known member
With a pH of 5.7 there is P in the soil which won't show up in a soil test. Actually with lime to raise the pH you might not need any additional P. You say what they recommended but not what the results were. That no lime needed comment does raise some concern. Sampling soil, interpreting the results and making recommendations based on those results is a large part of what I did for a living for 20+ years.
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jshep
Active member
what about goats and pigs thank you
Mark Reynolds
Well-known member
Yes. Be a bit cautious with the lime source though. Some sources of lime can have an excessive amount of contaminants. For example, I learned a week ago of a farm here in Ohio that has sheep and was getting his lime from Pennsylvania. This lime had excessive amounts of molybdenum that actually resulted in a copper deficiency in the sheep resulting in an extremely high mortality rate in the flock. (Yes, copper deficiency in sheep. Weird I know). The producer now feeds a custom mineral mix with copper added to his sheep to prevent mortality from induced copper deficiency due to the lime contamination. Lime itself is pretty much inert to animals. The contaminants are potentially the problem.
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jshep
Active member
thank you for the quick answer l have a lot of questions
Mark Reynolds
Well-known member
Ask away. Someone will likely get to it soon.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
How did the lime get contaminated? Lime is finely ground limestone so unless some outside source contaminated it i dont know how it could be. There is different tests results from different quarries or wherever it comes from. It must have a test before they can sell it.
its from the Mississippi State lab.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
I guess i would have to ask them why. Im sure different soils have different needs but most grasses need a PH over 6.5 to do good.
Any chance you can post the results here. Or take a picture of them and post.
Mark Reynolds
Well-known member
Lime that is used on fields and pasture does not all come from quarries. Lime that is used for agriculture is often a byproduct of water and waste treatment processes. This is the lime I am referring to. Lime that is processed specifically for agriculture field use or directly from a mine and then ground should be safe. At least I've never heard of a problem in this regard. I have heard of lime 'byproduct' being so contaminated that syringes and diapers have ended up being spread on fields. Extreme case and seems very unlikely, although the diapers and syringes incident was local here shortly before I moved to the area.
Ridgefarmer63
Well-known member
I just did a soil test on a field that had been neglected for sometime. I had hayed it for the last two years and thought it needed lime. I did a soil test with UNH (University of NH) and had a PH of 6.0 with a buffer PH of 5.81 but the recommendation was NO LIME. I questioned it and here was their response:
Hi Michael,
I double-checked with our soil specialist regarding your sample, and the recommendation for no lime is accurate.
I will say that I'm also surprised by this; it must be that your sample falls just on the right side of whether you'd lime or not. Renuka Mathur did point out that if this sample were for a new seeding then the recommendation would be for 1.5 tons of lime – the fact that that lime would be incorporated rather than surface applied might be a factor? While it may not provide any response in your hay crop, spreading 1-1.5 tons of lime won't cause any harm, and will help maintain the field within the desired pH range.
Hi Michael,
I double-checked with our soil specialist regarding your sample, and the recommendation for no lime is accurate.
I will say that I'm also surprised by this; it must be that your sample falls just on the right side of whether you'd lime or not. Renuka Mathur did point out that if this sample were for a new seeding then the recommendation would be for 1.5 tons of lime – the fact that that lime would be incorporated rather than surface applied might be a factor? While it may not provide any response in your hay crop, spreading 1-1.5 tons of lime won't cause any harm, and will help maintain the field within the desired pH range.
Ridgefarmer63
Well-known member
There are some guys using woodash from woodfired power plants around here with some luck. It's cheaper but you need to spread twice as much.
