What analysis of fertilizer and how much

johndeeregreen · Jan 31, 2013

I picked up a little more land, it was corn for 3-4 years then it was soybeans for 1 year, two years ago, soybean yield was around 40, then last year it was corn, yield was around 135. Farmer before me ONLY used urea as his fertilizer. Beef cattle manure was put on every year, and I will continue to do the same. It doesn't seem like the ground is lacking much, his crops were always pretty good.
What analysis of fertilizer and how much per acre would be recommended?

Anonymous-0 · Jan 31, 2013

Get an accurate soil test. Include micro nutrients. Also, get Cation exchange capacity. Then determine your target goals (as far as yields you're shooting for) THEN come back with those numbers, otherwise, you're just throwing darts in the dark at a moving target. Any numbers you get based on the very limited information you furnished will be a wild azz guess at very best.

johndeeregreen · Jan 31, 2013

What does an average soil test cost? Not that it matters much, because I know it will pay for itself in the long run. But I"m curious.

paul · Jan 31, 2013

A test can run about $25, less or more, depends what you actually want tested.

The manure will help you out, so you shouldn't be in a bad situation.

If you are aiming for 140 bu corn, you'd probably want 100 to 150 lbs of N added, depends on what previous creop was, and how much manure you are adding.

Your 140bu corn will be removing 50 lbs of P, and 35lbs of K, so you'd really like to add that back in. Depends what youre manure adds back.

These days we don't get free sulfur from pollution any more, so 10 lbs of that is good. Perhaps your manure supplies that tho.

--->Paul

Anonymous-0 · Jan 31, 2013

Watch ph level too. Manure, especially when applied regularly over several years can throw ph off....WAY off.

As I mentioned in earlier post, micro nutrients are very important. Zinc, boron, and as Paul mentioned, sulfur have been found to be vital in a plants ability to take up NP&K. And that cation exchange capacity I mentioned is the soil's ability to hold moisture. Low CEC will limit soil's ability to hold nutrients and therefor, effecting availability of nutrients for plants to use. You can apply fertilizer till the cows come home, and if the plant can't take in those nutrients, you just wasted a LOT of money.

Feeding a plant is like feeding a human....It takes a proper balance of ALL required nutrients to keep a person healthy.

From my experience, getting ph in range is the first thing I'd start with.

Animal · Jan 31, 2013

I was at an organic seminar a few years back and one of the speakers was explaining soil samples. He told us that the cation reading was the most important reading in a sample. I rely alot on my organic matter also.

johndeeregreen · Jan 31, 2013

Thanks for all the info guys! This spring I will get a soil sample too see where all the levels are at, and I will let you know and we can go from there.

paul · Jan 31, 2013

Yes, a rough rule of thumb is ground with a Cec of 15 can hold 150 lbs of N, so a low cec can limit the amount of fertilizer (organic, commercial, plow down, whatever) at one time. Some of the types on N will store longer, but as they convert to the plant useable stuff, the cec can only hold so much.

I forget about lime, my soils are 6.4 to over 8 so not an issue.... But low ph acid soils will latch onto the n, p, and k and not let the roots pry it loose, so ph is 2nd in line to get right.

Paul

Anonymous-0 · Feb 1, 2013

Get a soil test ph is the first thing and make
sure it has base saturation on.

johndeeregreen · Feb 1, 2013

My local agronomist is a joke, so I won't be dealing with him. I'm going to send a soil sample to a place that's about 150 miles from me. I'm having them do the normal test plus, micro-nutrients, organic matter, and the cation exchange capacity.
I've never did a soil test before, when is the best time to get the soil sample done? I'm thinking about a month before planting time?
I only grow soybeans and corn, I'm thinking of rotating the crop ever year, this year it will be soybeans, next year corn, then back to soys. Does anyone see a problem with that?

johndeeregreen · Feb 4, 2013

I got emails back on the places I emailed about soiling sampling.
One said
Regular field soil test -
pH, lime requirement, P, K, Ca, Mg & CEC. $25.

The other
A regular home/garden test is $23.00 if you mail it and includes the organic matter. Each micro will be an extra $4.00 (Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe). The actual CEC by ammonium saturation test is $35.00. However, an estimated CEC comes free with the regular soil test. Our fees are on the website at www.css.msu.edu/soiltesting. We will need about one sandwich bag full of soil for a regular soil test. If you provide your email, we can send the results that way. Only the field/crop samples ($12.00 by mail and does not include OM) are sent to the Extension Office.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2013

Get your testing done well ahead of planting so you can get your inputs lined up. Do your testing at the same time of year every time you sample because they vary greatly through the season according to time and moisture.

What analysis of fertilizer and how much

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