Soil Test Results

[tylerh87]

Hey guys-

Got my soil test results back this week from Auburn University. They are as follows:

pH 5.8
Following in Pounds/Acre:
Phos 332-389
Potassium 304-216
Magnesium 282-291
Calcium 2752-2951

The ranges are because I sampled 3 different fields. Talked with my extension agent and he recommended Liming all 3 fields and then using Nitrate only. Pretty surprised at the nutrient levels given the fact that the place hasn't seen fertilize in 2-3 years and has had at least 6 cuttings of hay taken off of it.

Any recommendations anyone has besides lime would be greatly appreciated!

 

[JMJ Farms]

Don't skimp on the phosphorous. Put as much of the recommended amount as you can afford. Add 10 pounds of sulfur for every 50 pounds of nitrogen that you put out. 1/2 ton of lime/acre should get you above 6.0 PH. I would put out at least 1/2 of the recommended potash at a minimum.

I have one hay field that I maintain a 6.2-6.5 PH and fertilize exactly according to soil test recommendations. Provided I get normal rainfall, the yields and quality speak for themselves. I consistently average 2 tons/per acre/per cutting (3-4 cuttings per year) and average 14-15% protein at 4-5 week cutting intervals. On the others I try to just put enough to get by as I don't need that much "quality" hay for my own use and my customers wont pay enough to justify the extra inputs.

Bottom line is you have to do what you can afford. I know from experience that while soil health is of utmost importance, you can put more into it that you can get out.

 

[ga.prime]

Tyler, did you specify what crop you were trying to grow when you sent in the soil samples? If you did, the test lab would have given you fertilizer recommendations for optimum production and how much lime to apply for optimum ph for that particular crop. What you're showing is a soil analysis which is basically good for nothing.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I know from experience that while soil health is of utmost importance, you can put more into it that you can get out.

Will you provide some background, and perhaps an example, here?

 

[JMJ Farms]

If I fertilized my pastures exactly by the recommendations of the soil test, it would cost me $200/Ac per year. 2ac per cow. That's $400/cow. Plus 5 rolls of hay to winter her on average. That's another $250/cow. Plus minerals, vaccines, wormer, rent, a little fence upkeep, and you've got another $100/cow. That's $750 per cow per year assuming every cow weans a calf. So I usually put about $75-100 per acre on my pasture.

On hayfields, if I fertilized according to recommendations, AND GET GOOD RAINFALL, I average $50 per 1200 pound roll of hay. The market in my area WILL NOT pay more than $50 per roll...delivered. I don't understand why. But that's how it is. So if I've got $50 roll in it, and I can only sell it for $50 delivered, then I'm in the negative. However, I can fertilize with nitrogen only or either a partial blend, and grow and bale it for $35. Leaves $15 to cover delivery and a little profit.

For my own use I fertilize according to recommendations and grow very good quality hay. So if I was feeding everything I grow, I could probably justify the extra fertilizer. But I only need around 300-350 rolls and I usually bale 750-800 per year. It depends on the individual operation and it's needs whether or whether not to fertilize according to soil recommendations.

Another big issue here is that if you pour the fertilizer to the grass and then it doesn't rain. It's not uncommon for me to put out $150/Ac at the time. If it doesn't rain for 2 months, which has happened, and you multiply that times 200 acres that equals $30k. You can figure $10k of that is gone. At least. That's a lot to my operation.

 

[dun]

If you can only afford part of what;s called for, do the lime. Without the right (or close to it) ph all the other stuff is just peeing in the wind

 

[Stocker Steve]

If I fertilized my pastures exactly by the recommendations of the soil test, it would cost me $200/Ac per year. 2ac per cow. That's $400/cow. Plus 5 rolls of hay to winter her on average. That's another $250/cow.

For N during a rainy season you should be able to estimate an accurate # DM / # N response. Most years you can buy hay here cheaper than N, but the hay quality is low. So it depends more on the type of feed you need. Stockers get N, cows not so much.
The K and P should mostly recycle. So you should not need to add them each year. What am I missing?

 

[JMJ Farms]

Steve, first of all I want to let you know I'm not arguing with you, just discussing. I'm always open to suggestions, and to learning how different areas have different practices. If you can tell me how to save some money, then you've got my attention. I've been thinking about using some chicken litter. 2 tons/Ac spread $90/Ac. You can buy hay here cheaper than you can grow it too. However it's impossible for anyone in my area to grow it cheaper than I can. So either they can't figure, and are losing money. Or they are lying about the amount of fertilizer they put out. And there have been some who provided a falsified hay analysis. I quit buying because of this. I'd rather grow and sample my own so. Know what I've got. I'm feeding one group of bred cows (35 head avg 1200 lbs) one 1200 pound roll per day and they couldn't be in better shape.

The potassium and phosphorous wont recycle. Here's a chart showing approx what's removed from the dirt. 6 tons is approximately what I cut per acre/per year.

Fertilizer Nutrients Removed in 6 Tons of Bermudagrass Hay

Nutrients Pounds/Acre
Nitrogen (N) 300
Phosphorus (P2O5) 84
Potassium (K2O) 252
Calcium (Ca) 36
Magnesium (Mg) 27
Sulfur (S) 27

 

[tylerh87]

Just for clarity; the results above show the amount of nutrients in my soil per the soil lab. It tested Very High to Extremely High in all categories of K, Phos, Ca, Mg. The soil test recommended 1.5 tons of Lime per Acre now, and then fertilizing with 60-100 pounds of Nitrate at green-up. No further fertilizer needed. I did not post the recommendations just so I could see if there were different opinions out there from what the soil lab said. I have spoken with my extension agent about this and he recommended just Lime for now.

 

[Ebenezer]

In soils with adequate silts and clays, the P, K and other elements can bind and wait for need or release. I call it "banking" nutrients. High, very high and excessive are pounds or amount of a nutrient that exceeds the ANNUAL need of a stated crop based on a committee or individual's assumption that the amount is the MINIMUM ANNUAL amount of that element to make a given yield. NCSU just announced in a Farm Press article that they are going to go back and look at those minimums on some crops because they do not know where they came from or who made them. If you can get broiler litter, animal manures or other sources of least cost fertilizer, weigh the risks, avoid conflict with environmental agencies and the excesses are maybe not real excesses but are money in the bank for years to come and might also boost production beyond what you have ever experienced.

 

[Dave]

Steve, first of all I want to let you know I'm not arguing with you, just discussing. I'm always open to suggestions, and to learning how different areas have different practices. If you can tell me how to save some money, then you've got my attention. I've been thinking about using some chicken litter. 2 tons/Ac spread $90/Ac. You can buy hay here cheaper than you can grow it too. However it's impossible for anyone in my area to grow it cheaper than I can. So either they can't figure, and are losing money. Or they are lying about the amount of fertilizer they put out. And there have been some who provided a falsified hay analysis. I quit buying because of this. I'd rather grow and sample my own so. Know what I've got. I'm feeding one group of bred cows (35 head avg 1200 lbs) one 1200 pound roll per day and they couldn't be in better shape.

The potassium and phosphorous wont recycle. Here's a chart showing approx what's removed from the dirt. 6 tons is approximately what I cut per acre/per year.

Fertilizer Nutrients Removed in 6 Tons of Bermudagrass Hay

Nutrients Pounds/Acre
Nitrogen (N) 300
Phosphorus (P2O5) 84
Potassium (K2O) 252
Calcium (Ca) 36
Magnesium (Mg) 27
Sulfur (S) 27

In a pasture situation you are most certainly recycling nutrients. The removal figures you quote are for removal by a hay crop. That is as in cut, baled, and removed from the farm. If you were to collect all of the manure produced while feeding that hay how much nutrient would you have to return to the field? In a pasture situation all that manure is dropping back on the field.
If you fed that 6 ton of hay to 11 head of 1,200 pound cows at 3% of body weight it would last approximately 30 days. In that time their manure would contain 130.68 pounds of N, 47.52 pounds of P, and 102.96 pounds of K according to NRCS Agriculture Waste Management Field Handbook. And personally I don't think the manure calculations for beef cow in the AWMFH are based and feed of this high of quality. Hay removing 300 pounds of N for 6 ton (50 pounds per ton) would test right about 16% protein. A cow who has a protein requirement for 9% that is fed 16% hay and there will be a much higher pass through number.

 

[JMJ Farms]

I agree Dave. This is for a hay operation and I probably should have been a little more clear about that earlier. The pastures where I feed my hay (by unrolling) receive a lot of the nutrients that I'm removing from my hayfields and require minimal fertilizer besides nitrogen. And I can tell that as the years go by the soil health of my pastures is improving drastically. When I rent something new it's always run down and full of weeds so I start building it up but still worry about losing my lease and therefore losing my time and investment. Just a chance you've gotta take with rented land. I try to do a real good job of growing grass but I worry about overdoing it because I'm still in the stage where I need every dollar and I don't want to waste any.

And the next time I have a question about something of this nature, I'm definitely gonna message you because you seem to be pretty knowledgable. I had never seen a calculation of exactly how much fertilizer was returned through manure. That's very useful. Thanks a lot.