Fertilizer

Roy Ward · Jan 26, 2012

With the cost of liquid fertilizer being up to $34.00 an acre and the chance of little rain. 08, 09, and 2011 I losted most of my fertilizer due to no rain. I'am going to use 24-8-16 Water Soluble Fertilizer this year. A plant can only absorb so much through the leaves. I have come up with this application, 2 Lbs to the acre at a plant height of 3 inches, then 4 Lbs at a plant height of 8 inches. Total cost of applications is about $16.00 an acre. If no rain don't put it out. Has anybody out there tried something like this. I would welcome and advise.

IaGary · Jan 26, 2012

Are these plants Hay,Corn or Other?

Sounds like an expensive way to fertilize to me.

What is the actual pounds of N P and K to the acre applied when you only apply 6 pounds of product?

I'm guessing it takes 100 pounds to the acre to get your 23-8-16.

Gary

Janicholson · Jan 26, 2012

Granular fertilizer is going to require far more than that (unless there is very little needed as determined by soil tests). I put 4# on 1000 sq. ft. of grass and it is not too much. The granular (from my experience) is going to be in the 150 pounds per acre to 250/acre. In my opinion you might need to get in contact with your Ag extension office for advice, Type of crop, broadcast, side dressed, or other application method is also important, but a few pounds per acre is one grain every 10 inches or less! Jim

JDseller · Jan 26, 2012

What are you fertilizing??? $34 per acre is low for just about any row crop. My Corn fertilizer is going to be $240 per acre this year. So we need to know where you are and what you are growing.

Huskers86 · Jan 26, 2012

I don't know if you're equipped to grid sample but the benifits out weigh the costs of the samples. I've been doing it for some time, it allows you to put what you need where you need it.

Roy Ward · Jan 26, 2012

It's Coastal and Angleton hay. What I found out is that it takes two weeks for a plant to absorb 2 Lbs of fertilizer through the leaves. If the plant is about 3 inches tall. The taller the plant it can absorb more. My application rate will be determand by how many plants per acre I have. You guys are right it's going to be somewhere around 50 Lbs of diluted with water per acre at 3 inches tall to get my 24-8-16. Even with that my cost is only going to be around $18.00 an acre.

Roy Ward · Jan 26, 2012

You are right, put it where you need it. No rain just wait till it does.

paul · Jan 26, 2012

From what I see and hear & understand, foliar applications can work on very special high dollar crops if your soil is already well fertilized.

In general, the foliar application will make your hay look real nice green for a week so you feel good about it.

But it tends to be the most expensive way to fertilize, and you generally get a very low amount of fert.

As someone else said, I just paid for about $240 an acre of fert for next spring, applied to corn ground. Ganular, will be about 400lbs an acre, about 200lbs of that is real fert.

You are are getting 6 lbs - about 3lbs of actual fert - for $16 an acre.

I think mine $240 is going to be much much cheaper than your $16, for what we each get.

The P & K you applied in past years likely is still mostly in your ground, so it wasn't a total waste.

--->Paul

GeneMO · Jan 26, 2012

What are you doing with the hay? Selling hay?
Feeding it to old cows? Calves?

It all boils down to what you need, and what you hope to make.

Gene

JDseller · Jan 26, 2012

I have tried the folular fertilizers in the past, alfalfa mainly, they only seem to work on leafy high dollar plants like tobacco and some vegetables. I did not get a positive yield response. Just made the plants look greener but did not translate into higher tonnage or quality. In hay and others they don't seem to pan out because you are not getting very much product to the plants root system. No matter what the "salesmen" tell you the roots are the heart of your plants.

Here is what I have been using on my alfalfa/grass hay ground for several years. I apply it just as soon as the ground is solid in the spring.

50# 18-46-0
50# 0-0-60
100# 34-0-0
total 200# per acre

I get actual lbs. per acre:
43 Lbs. of nitrogen
23 lbs. of Phosphorus
30 lbs. of Potash

This is going to cost me $85 per acre this year. I usually get about 6-7 tons of hay per acre.

IaGary · Jan 27, 2012

I agree with you JD. I tried the folular feed as well and for the cost per unit of fertilizer it was an expensive way to go.

Folular is thought of as a bandaide around here. Just a way to get quick energy to the plant when the soil is lacking in nutrients.

For the same dollars you could put on more units when ground feeding. The plant will use it all eventually when spreading on the ground.

Gary

Nancy Howell · Jan 27, 2012

Several years ago, we sprayed a liquid fertilizer on our coastal hayfield. Sprayed at the recommended rate (don"t remember the numbers). Only had time to do half the hayfield. Came back the next weekend and couldn"t tell any difference.

Sprayed again at 2x the recommended rate and nothing. Total bust.

gitrib · Jan 27, 2012

To be fair to yourself You must use a grid soil sample testing to make sure you are applying the amound and type of fertilizer needed, I have heard no mention of the trace minerals that make the plant to utilize the fertilizer you use. It is found Sulpher is more and more important. Get those soil samples taken and tested it is the only way to go and be sure.
gitrib
soil testing

GordoSD · Jan 27, 2012

I think you could dial back on the urea. Your alfalfa should provide the N. Are you doing a spring soil sample?
My spring tests in this omaha clay usually showw I need something like 0-40-40, which of course isn't available so I use the 18-46-60,
at the 36-92-60 App.
I get about 4.8T in 3 cuts. Depends on the rain after the 2nd.

donjr · Jan 27, 2012

I'm with gitrib. That soil test is cheaper than any amount of fertilizer you want to put out. You can throw out all the fertilizer you want to, but if your ph is low, the plant will not absorb it very well. The same goes for trace minerals. And different crops will respond very differently to the amounts you use. That's one of the many reasons there's so much runoff of nutrients that people complain about polluting everything. So get a soil test and follow the recommendations. They work!

James Howell · Jan 27, 2012

Nancy took soil samples in our hayfield last weekend.

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We always take a soil sample each year.

For the last few years the ratio has been 24-7-14.

gitrib · Jan 27, 2012

I alway question rates recomended by fertilize dealer or manufactures, They make there money selling fertilzer that is why I prefer a indepedent Lab some Ag college labs are good but the do not have the large Data Base of information to draw from.
gitrib

idleknotfarm · Jan 27, 2012

I would like to point out that foliar feeding is an above and beyond step. You need to have your basic underlying agronomics (ph, soil nutrients, etc.) taken care of. Foliar feeding stimulates the plant and "turns the pump on" so to speak. If there is not adequate nutrients in the soil, if there is not adequate soil moisture and if the foliar application is not done at the correct plant stage you will not get a response at all, or you will not get a response that is economical.

Tx Jim · Jan 27, 2012

Roy Ward
By chance is the name of this fertilizer Grasshopper?????

donjr · Jan 27, 2012

I have my testing done by Waters Ag Labs in Georgia, but they're one of several good testing labs. There was a time we could send them to University of Maryland, but as usual, the government screwed things up and cut the budget for the lab. Now they just blame the farmers for polluting the Chesapeake Bay and increase taxes to pay for the cleanup. Hey, it just occurred to me- That's another way of the government cleaning out our pockets---

gitrib · Jan 27, 2012

Gosh James It seem to me thatt Nancy does all of the work, spreads the ferilizer,rakes the hay, roofs the barn,women like that are hard to find I have had mine for 61 years know. Let up on that pretty little thing and let her enjoy her horses, graydon

JDseller · Jan 28, 2012

GordoSD: I am not using any Urea, 45-0-0. I am using ammonia nitrate, 34-0-0. The ammonia nitrate activates early and fast. It kicks the grasses in high gear early. So when I take the first cutting at early bloom stage on the alfalfa the grass already has good size to it. Then it recovers very fast. So my first and second crop hay is a 30%alfalfa/70% grass mix. This is what I want for my cows and the few horse people I have (grand daughters are adding to this need LOL) Then the third and fourth crop is more a 70% alfalfa/30% grass hay. This I usually little square bale.

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