WHEN TO FERTILIZE?

[piedmontese]

I just broadcasted some perennial ryegrass in 2 of my pastures.when should i fertilize,how much per acre,what kind? i want to broadcast the fertilizer also.i paid $1.13 per lb for the linn perrenial ryegrass.is that a decent price?

 

[Stocker Steve]

2 weeks before green up if the soil is damp, or just before it rains if the soil is dry
depends on what your other feeds cost
soil test
soil test

 

[hillbillycwo]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime. I have been applying 100#'s of N in the spring but cut back to 60 this spring and and will apply 40 #'s of N after I take my spring hay. The spring appliccation is Urea the summer one will be ammonia nitrate.

Soil test is important to know what you need. Any fertillizer company can explain it to you, most do it free in my area if you buy from them. the folks I buy from have also educated me that it can take years to get your ground up to par. They understand that you have to operate within a budget and they can help you get as much bang for your fertillizer dollar as possible.

 

[1982vett]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime.

Oh heck...for the benifit of those that don't know (and my curiosity if the extension agent explained why) do you know, or did the agent explain his answer?

Like......if my soil test I get back tomorrow says I need P & K I shouldn't do it till fall?

 

[tsmaxx47]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime.

Oh heck...for the benifit of those that don't know (and my curiosity if the extension agent explained why) do you know, or did the agent explain his answer?

Like......if my soil test I get back tomorrow says I need P & K I shouldn't do it till fall?

don't know why myself but would like to; i was fixin to put the whole load on at the same time. i guess a call to the fertilizer folks is in order...

 

[Kingfisher]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime. I have been applying 100#'s of N in the spring but cut back to 60 this spring and and will apply 40 #'s of N after I take my spring hay. The spring appliccation is Urea the summer one will be ammonia nitrate.

Soil test is important to know what you need. Any fertillizer company can explain it to you, most do it free in my area if you buy from them. the folks I buy from have also educated me that it can take years to get your ground up to par. They understand that you have to operate within a budget and they can help you get as much bang for your fertillizer dollar as possible.

100 lbs of Nitrogen? How many acres do you have?

 

[kenny thomas]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime.

Oh heck...for the benifit of those that don't know (and my curiosity if the extension agent explained why) do you know, or did the agent explain his answer?

Like......if my soil test I get back tomorrow says I need P & K I shouldn't do it till fall?

I have been told the reason is that the lime, P & K take a lot longer to break down and work. The N is available almost immediately.

 

[1982vett]

I have been told by my Extension agent to apply N in the spring and the P and K in the fall with lime.

Oh heck...for the benifit of those that don't know (and my curiosity if the extension agent explained why) do you know, or did the agent explain his answer?

Like......if my soil test I get back tomorrow says I need P & K I shouldn't do it till fall?

I have been told the reason is that the lime, P & K take a lot longer to break down and work. The N is available almost immediately.

You are partly correct.... It doesn't transfer or leach thru the soil as fast, needs to be incorporated so if applied and tilled in it doesn't really matter. But if I get a soil test today and it says I need P & K I'm not going to waste a growing season before putting it on because an extension agent says it should be done in the fall. ;-)

 

[SRBeef]

On pastures I have read and agree that the best time to put down nitrogen in the midwest is in early June. The logic is that you will get the first flush of grass without any added N. Delaying the N until early June still gets it down when we can expect a rain in a few days to wash dry spread urea in and it will help extend the green grass into summer then give you a bit better grass in the fall. you also do not want to graze freshly fertilized pasture until you have a had a good rain, or two depending on rate of urea applied.

Putting a lot of N on pastures early in spring before greenup just adds to what is often more grass than you can use on the first spring growth but then peters out later when you need the growth.

As far as P & K go it can be applied about any time. The reason it is often suggested in the fall is that P & K are usually not immediately available to the plant right after spreading. Putting it on in the fall means probably more of it will be available to the new grass in the spring. I put them all down in one trip with the N in early June to reduce trips and compaction. Most dry fertilizer dealers have a very good blender that can uniformly mix even just a few pounds of B or S among a couple tons of urea, etc.

In actual fact pulling a heavy dry spreader spinner cart over the pastures twice can cause unnecessary tire compaction in many soils and conditions. For this reason I generally put down a mixture of dry N (urea) at the same time as the P (DAP) and K (0-0-60) along with a few pounds of S and B as called for in the soil test. And spread this mixture in early June on pastures the cattle have recently grazed and won't be rotating back to for a couple weeks or a month.

Also as said above, soil test, soil test, soil test. But usually do the soil tests at the same time of year each year as results done in the fall sometimes vary from results done in the same spot in the spring. To see year to year changes you need to soil sample at the same time of year every year.

jmho.

Jim

 

[Kingfisher]

Putting a lot of N on pastures early in spring before greenup just adds to what is often more grass than you can use on the first spring growth but then peters out later when you need the growth.
Is the nitrogen for the grass or the soil.....? Isn't the green up just a result of better soil conditions?

 

[SRBeef]

Putting a lot of N on pastures early in spring before greenup just adds to what is often more grass than you can use on the first spring growth but then peters out later when you need the growth.
Is the nitrogen for the grass or the soil.....? Isn't the green up just a result of better soil conditions?

P & K are "for the soil" as you put it. They stay pretty close to where they are applied and only move down very slowly and can be stored or "tied up" by the soil. P & K are necessary for growth but do not really give you that flush of rapid growth. They are more long term nutrients. P in particular gives you root growth.

N is what really accelerates the green growth. N is very soluble in water and moves quickly down with moisture, sometimes out of reach of the grass roots. Or N can volatize into the air, again lost and wasted for plant growth. The most common form of nitrogen fertilizer is a white granule called urea. This should be applied just ahead of a rain whenever possible. Or in a couple days it will start just going off into the air with an ammonia smell.

Green up is better with good soil conditions but the primary nutrient that gets more green growth growing is N.

Jim

 

[Stocker Steve]

On pastures I have read and agree that

Putting a lot of N on pastures early in spring before greenup just adds to what is often more grass than you can use on the first spring growth but then peters out later when you need the growth.
Jim

You need to study Voisin' Chapters 5 and 6.

 

[hillbillycwo]

Vett, The agent explained to me that the N grows the tops and they grow best in the spring in my area as I have cool season grasses mainly. The Lime P and K is more for the roots which he claims grows more in the fall. The leaching is another reason to do it this way and the lime being a slower release. I had heard this before from my Grand father. As i right now only have 45 acres cleared I can do this but as I clear more land and bring it into production I will put the N,P and K on together in the spring and the lime in the fall to save fuel. The 160 acres I am partnered on the fertillize goes on together in the spring and the lime seperately or that fuel reason.

Kingfisher...it is 100#'s to the acre of 46 parts urea. I have tried to understand the math on this but it is still foggy.

 

[1982vett]

Vett, The agent explained to me that the N grows the tops and they grow best in the spring in my area as I have cool season grasses mainly. The Lime P and K is more for the roots which he claims grows more in the fall. The leaching is another reason to do it this way and the lime being a slower release. I had heard this before from my Grand father. As i right now only have 45 acres cleared I can do this but as I clear more land and bring it into production I will put the N,P and K on together in the spring and the lime in the fall to save fuel. The 160 acres I am partnered on the fertillize goes on together in the spring and the lime seperately or that fuel reason.

Kingfisher...it is 100#'s to the acre of 46 parts urea. I have tried to understand the math on this but it is still foggy.

Well I'm glad we got that figured out.... :roll:

 

[Douglas]

I think last fall is better than this spring which is better than next fall for P&K

 

[1982vett]

I think last fall is better than this spring which is better than next fall for P&K

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :tiphat:

 

[Douglas]

http://beef.osu.edu/beef/beefMarc30.html

Here is a guy that agrees with fall K:

All applications of K should wait until the plants can utilize it better. If we were to look at soil levels of potassium during the year we would find that it is in greater concentration during the spring (due to mineralization of K during the winter. Plants have the ability to take up more potassium than they need. This is called luxury consumption. Luxury consumption can occur when there are high soil levels of potassium, like what we see in spring. High concentrations of potassium can affect magnesium uptake by plants. This not only affects the plant physiology but can also cause metabolic imbalances in animals that consume mainly forages. The metabolic imbalance in animals is usually referred to as grass tetany. Why apply potassium at a time when more is already available and plants can take up more than they need?

So when is the best time to apply fertilizer to pastures? Research shows that if one application of P and K is being done, then fall is the best time for the application. By applying P and K in September or October plants develop a healthier root system and improve winter survival. This results in plants better able to withstand drought the following year. If high rates of phosphorus and potassium are recommended by soil test, then there is an advantage to splitting the application. Some of the recommended fertilizer should be applied after the first hay harvest in early summer, with the balance being applied in the fall. This will help reduce the luxury consumption of potassium by the plants and improve the efficiency of K use.

 

[Gators Rule]

I can tell you that no two pastures are alike, even if neighboring. The only way to know what your soil needs, and therefore your grass, is what Stocker Steve said....soil test, soil test, soil test! I was instructed by Dr Paul Mislevy (retired Univ of Florida Professor-Retired, and friend/client of mine), who has developed or co-developed a ton of the different strains of grasses used today, to apply fertilizer when the rye is about 4 inches in height....but ONLY after testing the soil. This was Florida, but I would suspect the same principles apply elsewhere.

Remember, there is no "cookie cutter" fertilizer plan. You need to have soil samples tested if you want the most bang for your buck.