When to Fertilize

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pricefarm

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For those of you that live around my area (SW VA) when do you think is the best time to fertilize hay fields ? I usually wait till around the second week of April but was thinking of going ahead and spreading some tomorrow. What do y'all think to early?
 
To add to this. P&K is best spread really early. I spread it in November if I can. It takes around 90 days to break down.
Then the nitrogen can be applied as the weather permits. But it only lasts about 90 days. Hard to get it all just at the right time.
 
Was going to spread today but apparently everyone else had the same idea. Wasn't able to get a spreader buggy from SS or the other locally owned fertilizer sales place.
 
lesson is, buy the supplies when no one else really is, or order early, shelves will be stripped going forward with panic buying :)

And if you have to rely on borrowing stuff, see rule 1 above and repeat.

I try and do before rain is forecast....
 
I'm in southwest MO. Fertilized last monday, turned cows out Thursday to start rotation. Grass is growing. Last year people were feeding up until around april 6-7
 
Ran out of hay this past weekend. I had put about 135 pounds of triple 19 on our hay ground 3 weeks ago thankfully. Cattle started rotating across it this past weekend as well. The grass is 10 or 12 inches tall already. I'm a fan of ryegrass now.
 
Put fertilizer down here, on the 8th of march, this year. Moon was right, weather was right, and the hayfield will probably be too mature, by the time it gets warm enough to cure a hay crop, but it will be a good yield. Pasture, we overstock, and with good grass growing still feeding with maturing calves, cold wet weather, but lots of growth!
 
I put fertilizer on March 20-21. THe grass is already green as a gourd and if we have a heavy frost this month it will about kill it. It has probably had 5 inches of rain on it since.
 
kenny thomas said:
Hope today was the right day. It's spread so guess it will have to be

They are giving a 50/50 rain chance the next couple days, I hope we get some.
 
Finished today. Would like to get a little rain now.
Probably going the mature before we get weather to bale
 
callmefence said:
Stocker Steve said:
Need to think biology - - not calendar:

Spread N and S when trees start to bud.
Spread K and P after first cutting.

Damit that's exactly the opposite of what I've been doing.......
Haha....yeah....first cutting isn't in the fall around here either.
 

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