Who doesn't fertilize?

[Nesikep]

I have not fertilized in about seven years now....rotational grazing and adding plant diversity with an emphasis on legumes and deep rooted crops....

behind grazing now I am sowing a cover crop mix with Pearl Millet, cow peas, sun hemp, okra, buckwheat, broadleaf mustard, chicory, sunflowers and I forget what else....

in fact I just added to my blog about the paddock sown this weekend...

http://www.pdfangus.com

What variety of Sunn hemp do you grow? It seems that the "Tropic Sun" is one that is palatable to cows as an added bonus.. I can''t find anyone to ship seed to Canada though (it's an eternal source of frustration)

 

[ddd75]

Fert and lime shows up here by the 18 wheeler load year after year. And always trying to get ground turned over.

Wtf do you guys spend money on if you can't make money off cattle, don't feed hay, and don't fertilize??

lol. those big screen tv's...

 

[ClinchValley]

We fertilized hay ground this year. More than doubled last years output.

I did overseed them in Feb. Grazed them hard last Fall. Plus we went through the drought.

We did lime them Spring '16. But it more than doubled.

Also threw a 1.5 ton on 30 acres of pasture.

Do you all fertilize after hay is over to stockpile?

 

[ClinchValley]

This was the first time this farm has seen fertilize in a very long time. Aside from tobacco and garden getting fert. I think i'm a fan.

I can see pro's and con's though. Damned expensive. But definitely worth it in our situation right now.

 

[pdfangus]

I have not fertilized in about seven years now....rotational grazing and adding plant diversity with an emphasis on legumes and deep rooted crops....

behind grazing now I am sowing a cover crop mix with Pearl Millet, cow peas, sun hemp, okra, buckwheat, broadleaf mustard, chicory, sunflowers and I forget what else....

in fact I just added to my blog about the paddock sown this weekend...

http://www.pdfangus.com

What variety of Sunn hemp do you grow? It seems that the "Tropic Sun" is one that is palatable to cows as an added bonus.. I can''t find anyone to ship seed to Canada though (it's an eternal source of frustration)

truth be told.....I do not recall what variety of sun hemp is in my mix...
my mix was blended by Green Cover Seed in Nebraska and it was whatever variety they used...
my local feed store stocked some sun hemp this year as well. He stocked it because he knew I was advocating for it...but since I had it in my mix I have not bought any of his so don't know the variety there either...

I was more interested in the deep rooted summer legume with good nitrogen production than I was in palatability.

 

[ddd75]

if your not putting atleast 50 lb / n acre in one form or another one at least once per year your just hurting yourself and your pasture.

 

[Nesikep]

Thanks, It's just nice if it's possible to turn the cows onto it if you feel like it.. apparently it's mostly the seed pods that have some toxicity to them

 

[Banjo]

if your not putting atleast 50 lb / n acre in one form or another one at least once per year your just hurting yourself and your pasture.

You get that much from thunderstorms in a year.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Fert and lime shows up here by the 18 wheeler load year after year. And always trying to get ground turned over.

Wtf do you guys spend money on if you can't make money off cattle, don't feed hay, and don't fertilize??

Guns, beer, and bass boats!

 

[Supa Dexta]

bass boats!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GG0NvtOXa0

 

[Aaron]

Fields and pastures get fertilized here on rotation. Sandy fields get done every year. Majority of place has not met a plow in 40 years. Lots of neighbors don't fertilize - but it shows big time. Farms that are 'mined out' can be bought for next to nothing. Takes a lot of fertilizer to bring them back. Just wrote check for fertilizer today and it was just shy of $8k. But I fertilized all my pastures and 1/2 of my hay land with that. Next year I will probably only put on 1/2 of what I did this year, on the 1/2 of hay that didn't get fertilizer. Fertilizer is dirt cheap now, a good investment. Will never be $200/ton again, but could easily go the other way and be $1500/ton. Then a person has no choice but 'mine' the land for a few years.

 

[Bigfoot]

I would think cutting hay, and not fertilizing would mine the soil.......because your hauling the plant matter away. Although it would be better to fertilize pasture than not, I don't see grazing cows on pasture as truely mining it. Your also brining in a certain amount of nutrients when you feed hay. Is there an equal balance?.....No way.

 

[Bright Raven]

I would think cutting hay, and not fertilizing would mine the soil.......because your hauling the plant matter away. Although it would be better to fertilize pasture than not, I don't see grazing cows on pasture as truely mining it. Your also brining in a certain amount of nutrients when you feed hay. Is there an equal balance?.....No way.

In the case of pasture, the cows recycle most of the matter they consume. You are only hauling off the weight of the calves you produce once the mammas reach their mature weight. I like your analogy on the mining of the hayfield, you are hauling off multiple tons of matter.

 

[dun]

After decades of abuse it took years to get the pastures back to test. I check them about every 3 years and they haven;t required any additional fertilizer or lime for the past 10 or so. Hay fields are a totally different ball of wax. Test them annually but have only required anything about every 2 years.

 

[Bigfoot]

I would think cutting hay, and not fertilizing would mine the soil.......because your hauling the plant matter away. Although it would be better to fertilize pasture than not, I don't see grazing cows on pasture as truely mining it. Your also brining in a certain amount of nutrients when you feed hay. Is there an equal balance?.....No way.

In the case of pasture, the cows recycle most of the matter they consume. You are only hauling off the weight of the calves you produce once the mammas reach their mature weight. I like your analogy on the mining of the hayfield, you are hauling off multiple tons of matter.

This whole train of thought is something I've never really put much thought in. I know some amount nutrients will leech out. I know nitrogen can return to the atmosphere. I also brought in close to 400 rolls of hay that wasn't raised here. I've spread a little manure, but not much. Makes me wonder if some big brain somewhere has researched this sort of thing?

 

[Supa Dexta]

Its not just the beef that leaves, its also the growth/maintenance on the cows as well in a pasture. They eat off the entire pasture and only drop back manure in small places, the darker greener spots - so thats showing you where they are putting back into the grass, but removing from every where else.

 

[kenny thomas]

Do u people feed your calves or even u our cows? If you don't give theme something, either in the form of feed, hay, rotational grazing, just grass, they won't grow very well. Same way with grass, do the soil test and feed it what it needs and soon it will really grow and maybe not need much added.

 

[Bigfoot]

Its not just the beef that leaves, its also the growth/maintenance on the cows as well in a pasture. They eat off the entire pasture and only drop back manure in small places, the darker greener spots - so thats showing you where they are putting back into the grass, but removing from every where else.

I totally follow that train of thought, but are the nutrients we're talking about adding N, P, and K being mined, or is the absence of organic matter/soil life etc more of an issue, than those three nutrients. I don't know.

 

[Bright Raven]

Its not just the beef that leaves, its also the growth/maintenance on the cows as well in a pasture. They eat off the entire pasture and only drop back manure in small places, the darker greener spots - so thats showing you where they are putting back into the grass, but removing from every where else.

I totally follow that train of thought, but are the nutrients we're talking about adding N, P, and K being mined, or is the absence of organic matter/soil life etc more of an issue, than those three nutrients. I don't know.

Trace elements are also an issue. One of the benefits of using crushed limestone from the local quarries is that it adds trace minerals back to the soil in addition to Calcium carbonate.

 

[Bigfoot]

Its not just the beef that leaves, its also the growth/maintenance on the cows as well in a pasture. They eat off the entire pasture and only drop back manure in small places, the darker greener spots - so thats showing you where they are putting back into the grass, but removing from every where else.

I totally follow that train of thought, but are the nutrients we're talking about adding N, P, and K being mined, or is the absence of organic matter/soil life etc more of an issue, than those three nutrients. I don't know.

Trace elements are also an issue. One of the benefits of using crushed limestone from the local quarries is that it adds trace minerals back to the soil in addition to Calcium carbonate.

I was reading a scholarly article the other day (of course I can't find it now) about how all of our glyphosate ready crops have eliminated weeds from the scenerio. The weeds were actually drawing micronutrients from the soil, that crops aren't. Returning them to the soil, where they could be used by crops. It caught my attention, because I have been spraying pretty aggressively for about three years now. I actually thought of you, when I read it, that you would find it interesting. Slept a few times since then, and can't find it now.