WHY?

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

my annual hay cost is around $6000

All it will take is one bad hay year and you will be caught with your pants down around your knees.If you can't buy the hay at any price,you will be forced to sell because your land will not support your herd. If you "buy a little hay, and buy a little lime and fertilizer along", hopefully you will have time to get your land in shape to carry you throuogh the bad years....'cause they are a'comin........ ;-) :cboy:

 

[WORANCH]

Beef is just a by- product we raise . your main crop has to be grass .

:lol:

 

[WORANCH]

I guess that makes us all farmers......... ;-)

 

[Tod Dague]

What is your annual fert. bill?

 

[G&L Cattle]

plb,
I agree with you fully. I just cant justify it. Its tooooo expensive! Those chemicals are tooooo strong!

Let the hay producers have it.

G&L

 

[BC]

What was the pH of your soil? Anytime the pH is below 5.2 you lose about 35% of the fertilizer being tied up and not available to the plant. Was your soil recommendation made for hay production or for grazing? Lime and fertilizer will produce more nutrients for your cattle than you can buy with the same dollars for supplements. As others have said, your weaning weights will be better and reproduction will be improved through better body condition scores.

 

[Dave]

One other point is that most of the nutrient used by the grass and then eaten by the cow gets returned to the soil via the back end of the cow. So a lot of the fertilizer that you apply actually stays on the farm to be used again. If you do decide to buy hay rather than work on yor own soil fertility, buy from someone who fertilizes their fields a lot. That way you are importing nutrients to your farm which will be added to your soil. That wont address the pH issue but it will help increase your soil fertility.
Dave

 

[jt]

What was the pH of your soil? Anytime the pH is below 5.2 you lose about 35% of the fertilizer being tied up and not available to the plant. Was your soil recommendation made for hay production or for grazing? Lime and fertilizer will produce more nutrients for your cattle than you can buy with the same dollars for supplements. As others have said, your weaning weights will be better and reproduction will be improved through better body condition scores.

that is what i was trying to say... just didnt know any percentages or numbers... if you lime only, you will think you did both once the lime kicks in and releases nutrients..

jt

 

[Scotty]

Spread the liming over several years. If this is a rented place see if the land owner will help. If not see if you can get a longer lease that nyear to year. I fixed a place up and lost the lease. Came out allright but could have lost my @$$. Me, I would fertilize and spread the liming out.



Scotty

 

[dun]

When that much lime is required, our fetilizer/lime suppliers recommends using half the first year and the rest the second year. He equates it to eating a cow. Trying to digest that much at once is pretty tough, but a steak at a time it goes pretty fast.

dun

 

[plbcattle]

my ph level is 5.7

 

[dun]

my ph level is 5.7

I'm sure no expert, but 2 tons per acre for a starting ph of 5.7 seems awfully high. Unless you're raising alfalfa, that isn't all that low. Seems like most gasses run in the 6.0 to 6.5 range.
The quantity per acre of lime depends on the neutralizing value of the lime that's being applied. Do you have another fertilizer supplier in the area to check with, or better yet someone from the university extension or even USDA NRCS.
I have one little field that is only 5.2 and it only calls for 2200 lbs per acre.

dun