soil sample

[Txwalt]

Just recieved the soil sample results in the mail. The rep said we'll talk about it next time I come in. Looks good to me but I've never seen one before.

Some of it is cut off and I'm not sure how to get it all on there. Most of the relevant info is shown.

Walt

 

[Jogeephus]

Seems to me you ought to be mining lime rather than raising cows. Never seen results like that. We are always trying to get ours up to between 6 - 7. What do you normally fertilize with?

 

[Txwalt]

Seems to me you ought to be mining lime rather than raising cows. Never seen results like that. We are always trying to get ours up to between 6 - 7. What do you normally fertilize with?

I purchased the land almost 3 years ago and I have not fertilized anything other than put cows on it. I would bet money that bought fertilizer hasn't touched this place in atleast 10 years. Thats from what I know of the lands history and prior owner.

Walt

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm interested in this since I have never seen a ph so high. What is the cause of this? Limestone base? We have highly weathered soils - deep loamy sands with little to no clay or rocks. New ground will have a ph of about 4 - 4.5 - perfect for blueberries. But its an expensive chore to bring the ph up.

 

[Bluestem]

This is on a established Tifton 85 field? It looks ok. I would tweak the Ca/Mg ratio. Add a little S to bring the ph down, and your good to go.
Now if this is a Tifton 85 hay field and you start using synthetic fertilizers your organic matter will go down as well as your ph.
Keep doing whats been done the last ten years. You'll be fine.

 

[leboeuf]

where did you send the results to and how much did it cost? If you don't mind being asked..... :???:

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

You must be in the blackland clay area to have a PH that high. Mine usually averages 8-8.5.

 

[Txwalt]

where did you send the results to and how much did it cost? If you don't mind being asked..... :???:

$10. I brought the sample to the local liquid protein company and they sent it too A&L Inc.

Walt

 

[Txwalt]

I'm interested in this since I have never seen a ph so high. What is the cause of this? Limestone base? We have highly weathered soils - deep loamy sands with little to no clay or rocks. New ground will have a ph of about 4 - 4.5 - perfect for blueberries. But its an expensive chore to bring the ph up.

Could be limestone base that causes the high ph. High ph is the norm around here. I always thought it was because of all the cedar though.

Walt

 

[dun]

I'm interested in this since I have never seen a ph so high. What is the cause of this? Limestone base? We have highly weathered soils - deep loamy sands with little to no clay or rocks. New ground will have a ph of about 4 - 4.5 - perfect for blueberries. But its an expensive chore to bring the ph up.

Could be limestone base that causes the high ph. High ph is the norm around here. I always thought it was because of all the cedar though.

Walt

We're over run with cedars and our soil is limestone based and it's a struggle to get the ph to 7. If we can hit 6-6.5 feel like we've really accomplished something. Of course our limestone base is still in the form of a solid layer of limestone rock so that may have some baring on it.

 

[hurleyjd]

TxWalt: You may want to try the A and M system next time, same cost more thorough. You can get the soil sample bags from the county agent. You can download their information from this website.
http://www.soiltesting.tamu.edu You can have the PH to high and have problems. Looks like you have a high calcuim content that makes the PH high. I also notice that there is no value in the test for nitrogeon in the soil. How about taking another test and sending to A and M. They will give you the information and amount of nutrients for the Tifton 85.

 

[dyates]

I'm not familiar with your soil type, but I would wonder how much of those nutrients are in a form that is available to plants. We have two different farms. One is a heavy clay soil that tests off the charts for phosphorus and potassium, as well as the other key nutrients, excluding nitrogen. The other farm has a silt loam soil with very low soil tests. The silt loam soil will outperform the clay many times over. My point is this. There is a big difference between actual soil nutrients and available soil nutrients.

 

[BusterBrown]

Over there in that Edwards Plateau area, its the limestone that puts the ph so high. Its that limestone and water underneath that grows the cedars so well. I would cut and burn every cedar on the place before the che-che bird people declare it a habitat. Cedars do nothing but suck the water out of the ground. There's lots of limestone, calcite, ag-lime, caliche, etc. mines over there. That's why it's so alkaline. Wish I had some of that lime up here. Trying to bend the budget right now for some lime. :shock:

 

[simangus23]

Soil pH of 8.1 means you will need to lower your pH using elemental Sulfur-- this may take some time (years) if you are wanting to grow grass for cows.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Walt testing that soil is the best thing a person can do. You just never know. Pasture one mile away can yield a varying result. Much of it has to do with history of that ground.

Some of the ground I am dealing with is devoted solely to hay. Some of it is in grazing rotation. The pasture the cows graze has lesser need.

Hubam clover growth over the coastal field made a huge difference in the N needs. I recommend folks look into overseeding their hay fields with Hubam in the winter, for north central Texas climates. With comparing to the price of fertilizer, clover seed is cheap.

For now, even tho I am almost positive what soil tests would reveal based on the history, more tests are needed to determine exacting results of the things being done.