# Mineral Analysis



## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

We have our Coastal Hay sent in for analysis. Can anyone give any comments on the mineral analysis of the samples. Phosphorus 0.2%, Potassium 1.39%, Calcium 0.7%, Magnesium 0.25%, Sodium 2409ppm, Zinc 29ppm, Iron 103ppm, Copper 28ppm, Manganese 27ppm. The CP was 16.1%, ADF 31.9%, TDN 62.6%. Thanks for any help.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

A few years ago the dairies in East Texas would have liked that hay. I would guess you cut this on a 28 day interval. 
ADF 31.9%, TDN 62.6% this is really good
CP was 16.1%, Much better than this and it would do well in a hay contest. 
This CP Divided by 6.25 = 2.58% N. 
Phosphorus 0.2%, it is ok but I look for between 0.24% & 0.29% P
Potassium 1.39%, It is low. I look for 1.90% & 2.30% K & the best yield in the 2.10% K range. 
Magnesium 0.25%, is on the high side. I look for 0.15% to 0.25% Mg
Calcium 0.7%, is really high. I like between 0.35% % 0.40% Ca. 
Copper 28 ppm May be a little high. I like it to be around 10 ppm Cu
Iron 103 ppm
Manganese 27 ppm
Zinc 29 ppm
Sodium 2409 ppm,This is really high this translates to 2.4% which is a little high.
I look for less than .05% Na.

Even if I needed to move the decimal point one more to go from ppm to % that would be .24% Na and that is still higher than 0.05% Na.

Opinions vary as to how much of each element is required for optimal yield. I like to look at the number of inches of rain it takes to produce a ton of hay. At about 3" to 5" is close to as good as we can get with the genetics available to us.

It is possible that the high calcium & magnesium is from liming but excess of ether of both of these will depress the potassium uptake. 
On my calcareous Bell County TX soils my calcium levels are naturally excessive.

I try not to put up coastal hay of that high a quality. Hay buyers, HERE, do not want to pay for more than 12% CP.

If you have to lime your soil then as the lime is used up the potassium levels will improve if your potash application stays much the same. 
On the other hand if your soil naturally has excessive calcium than you can lower the calcium levels by adding more potash. 
If your hay market is anything like it is here you can delay cutting by 7 to 10 days, still have great hay and net more money per acre due to the increased production. 
You can delay harvesting bermudagrass until the leaves start to fall off the stems. At that point you are loosing quality and gaining very little yield.


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## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

Thanks Hay Wilson for your input. We do irrigate this pasture and believe the water is very high in hardness. We try and out about 1.5" per week over the field.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

If you can get your potassium levels up over 2.00% you will need less water. Take a look at your useable water per ton of hay. It can be down in the 4"/ton range while typical is in the 10" range. Think of it on of two ways. With 50 inches of water you may be realizing 5T/A of hay, with improved water efficiency the same water may provide 10 or 11 tons of hay. Looking at the other way if you are getting 5 tons with 50" of water, now, than you should get 5 tons with 25 or so inches of water.

If you are feeding the hay to your own stock, then keep the harvest interval you are using. If you are selling the hay increase the interval by a week or even two. Watch the growing bermudagrass and cut just as there is some extra stem next to the ground. I like to cut with a 42 to 15 day interval for a 12% to 10% CP. The net energy will not be as high as it is with a 28 day cycle, but if the customer does not pay for the extra energy let him pay for some extra hay.

For your self, you can do your cutting around the noon hour to increase the sugar content about 2%. The extra digestible fiber will more than make up for the extra week or tow growing time. (Directly contrary to the words of wisdom from TAMU!) There is some research at East Texas State Teachers College at Commerce to substantiate this. They were looking at feeding horses, and used a poor choice for time of day to cut, but the data is there. You can cut with a simple disk mower and the hay will dry to a point that respiration has stopped in 5 hours of sunshine. They cut a little later and lost some sugar overnight.


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## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

Hay Wilson we have let this cycle go about 7 or 8 days longer. It's going to be interesting what yield we are going to get. We also increase the watering time since we have not had any rain. We start cutting around 10:00 in the morning or as soon as the dew is gone and bale the next day. All of this hay is being sold for the horse people.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

In the case of the Green Eyed Buyers, they frown on slightly bleached hay, and few have a clue about animal nutrition. 
Few if any will pay for the different management to produce hay that is the best it can be.

By the same token the casual horse has no need for much more than a 10% GP hay. Most also like to feed cubes or some other feel good $ack feed.

I hesitate selling alfalfa to the owners of under worked horses. Just too much energy in alfalfa for their own good. The exception is for a wet mare, or one that is in daily training for the track or the arena.

There is at least one training/breeding farm that emulates a few breeders in Kentucky. That is to stall the horses at night and graze them during the day. A lot of these people like to feed alfalfa in the stall's feeder. A small minority will use a lower quality grass hay as a bedding material. This is realizing the horses want to graze 18 hours a day, or more. The Stable Boss walks the allies each morning and notes which animals are not nibbling their bedding. This hay gets pulled from the stall and fed to the farms cattle. Their stockers received supercharged grass hay!

Personally I would be very nervous baling hay that quick. I know it is done but I would still be nervous. 
July and August we have little or no dew form. So I could start cutting at close to sunup. If raked soon after mowing I could bale about 2 AM the next morning and have maybe 4 hours of baling. I'm too old for that now. 
I like to cut today, rake at first light the second morning, and bale the third morning. True I have some sun bleaching but the hay feeds real well. For the doubting Thomas I give them a bale and have him feed it and ask his resident expert about the quality. 
With our summer humidity we would have maybe 2 hours with enough humidity to bale during the day. Usually between 10 am and noon. That is starting at about 65% to 70% humidity and being done when the humidity goes from 55% to 50% and the leaves start to fly. Using an inoculant I could start 30 minutes earlier. Using an inline baler I could bale 30 minutes longer.

Most of my hay harvesting methods are based on information from West Virginia and Georgia, with some interesting information from Wisconsin as told to the growers in Utah.


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## bb123149 (May 27, 2009)

Sorry there needs to be a correction on cut one day and bales the next day. We cut in the morning and bale 2 days later. I here what your saying about increasing my days before cutting by 7 or 8 days but what I'm need to do is increase yield in the same time span28-30 days between cuttings. The only way to reduce cost it to increase production. The most expensive bale is the bale that is not produced. By increasing production in the same time frame I decrease fertilizer cost, decrease watering cost and possibilly add and extra cutting time.


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

If your soil requires nitrogen top dressing after each cutting is one thing. Here in CenTex we can apply all the nitrogen for the year in December of January. Not many bermudagrass hay growers, here, do that. This gives us a slow release fertilizer. 
If your soil is anything like much that is found in East Texas, nitrogen will literally run out in 3 to 6 weeks. With 5 cuttings, and $6/A application cost that is an extra expense.

Assuming the nitrogen will hold up for 6 weeks or more we can Cut at 42 days with 3 cuttings a year, and produce more tons/A with less cost.

One disadvantage I see is it is a lot more inconvenient to try to bale 3 tons/A than it is to bale 1.75 T/A.

Here I only cut as much hay as I can bale during the 2 hours of optimal baling conditions. Using a pull type bale wagon it takes me roughly 4 hours to get all the hay stacked in the barn.

On this farm all the haying operations are done by me alone.


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