> I'm ready to fertilize my 4 acre
> pasture with granular 12-12-12 and
> was wondering if there is any
> danger to the 600 pound steer that
> I have grazing.I'm not sure he
> could injest any of the fertilizer
> but thought I'd ask for opinions.
> The grass is about 5" tall.
> Thanks, Andrew
andrew,
i am as my name implies fairly ignorant about livestock,however,farming i know. injesting commercial fertilizer is not good on the digestive system of either humans or wildlife so i suspect it is not good for livestock as well. maybe you could fence off half of your grass,fertilize it and about 2 weeks later fertilize the other half,after having moved your steer to the first half.one other thing i would like to suggest is that you use an airetor of some type before you fertilize.that is, some device to punch holes in the ground.some people do this with golf shoes while mowing the grass.obviously you would not want to do 4 acres with golf shoes, but many rental companies offer airetors of some type,even ag co-ops offer them for rent.the purpose is to put the fertilizer below the surface where it belongs.the last 2 #'s of the "12-12-12" represent nutrients that will not travel through the soil.they stay where you put them and putting them on top of the soil will not allow the grass's root system to utilize them. therfore they should be put "into" the ground.the most effective and least intrusive way to get those nurtients "into" the soil is to punch holes into the ground before fertilization.this will also keep the steers nose out of the fertilizer so he can't injest it. i hope this helps.
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