Fertilizer for Timothy?

New England Farmer · Sep 13, 2009

Wondering what type(s) of fertilizer people would recommend for a field of timothy hay, also.. for orchard grass hay. Is any type more effective than others? and what about recommendations for price?

and.. when is a good time to fertilize? fall? spring? after first cutting? not only when, but how often?

GordoSD · Sep 13, 2009

Two words. Soil samples

Gordo

Janicholson · Sep 13, 2009

County Ag agent. Even letting you know what others have done is wrong. W/O Doing as Gordo indicates, and taking it for analysis, you are going to spend money that will do either nothing, or make things worse. Soil samples need to be taken in multiple places if there is variation across fields, or in the same field. JimN

Nancy Howell · Sep 13, 2009

Gordo is absolutely correct. Contact your ag agent. He can give you forms that tell you how to take the soil samples and where to send them.

Once you get the analysis back, give him a call. He will be able to tell you what kind of fertilizer, how much and when.

Here in Tx, soil test costs $10.00. Well worth the money.

RodinNS · Sep 13, 2009

You should soil sample.... but the reality is, if you don't intend to follow it's recomendations, it's a waste of 10 bucks or whatever it costs.
For either of those crops, hitting it in the spring when it greens up with 100-150 pounds of AN or Urea will give you about as much bang as you'll get for your fertilizer dollar.
If you've got serious deficinencies in either P or K it's going to cost you more than the crop is worth to bring it up to spec...
The main thing you'll gain from the soil test is the PH and give you an idea of how much lime you need to improve it.

Rod

kyplowboy · Sep 14, 2009

Gonna jump on the wagon here, Soil Sample. If you go with some form of "non commercial" fertilizer have it tested too. UK charges $10 for soil samples and will test broiler litter for $25. $35 can save AND make you thousands. As a rule around here on grass P, K, and litter go on in the fall. If you need N it goes on in the early spring. Winters here are too warm and wet for N to hang around till spring. Might last in New England, like every one else said call your county extension office.

Dave

Ken Macfarlane · Sep 14, 2009

If New England is anything like us next door in the similar soil types, chance are you need lime, and lots of it. The acid rain from the Pennsylvania coal plants drops on us and makes everything quite acid over time.

Bill(Wis) · Sep 14, 2009

Have you ever grown timothy? The last timothy we planted was back in the 40s. When we had horses. No commercial fertilizer back in those days. Not much lime, either. It's still as thick as hair on a dog's back in non-crop areas (fencelines, lanes corners, etc.) My opinion is that it will grow just about anywhere. I have respect for the opinions of others on this forum, but how much is this crop going to be worth to you? Someone mentioned thousands. It would be difficult to imagine how much timothy hay it would take to get back a thousand bucks. If you follow your ag agents advice you'll spend way more than you'll ever get back. I saw a beautiful field of old timothy up in New Brunswick that had never seen lime or fertilizer other than that provided by a family of moose.

Fertilizer for Timothy?

New England Farmer

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GordoSD

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Janicholson

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Nancy Howell

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RodinNS

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kyplowboy

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Ken Macfarlane

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Bill(Wis)

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