# Soil test results



## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Hey guys,

I just got my soil test back from my orchard grass field and I'm ready to fertilize. The test shows the PH is 5.8. It recommends getting it up to 6.5. This would require one ton per acre to accomplish. I was wondering what PH you guys typically like to keep your hay fields at? It also recommends about 60 units of Ammonium Nitrate, 15 units of 18-46-00 (DAP), 90 units of Potash, and 11 units of Magnesium per acre. I had my local CO-OP figure up the total costs to do this and it's about 1200.00 dollars for the 10 acre field. I didn't think this was too bad however I was also told that the liquid fertilizer that you spray on was about half the cost. Do any of you guys have any experience with the liquid fertilizer? Pros/Cons of using it? This is the first year that I have done a soil test and want to make sure I do it right. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Kyle


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I've used liquid and it works fine. However, it can burn your field if you don't get rain shortly after it's applied. It grows back fine but for a while. you've got brown stripes in your field. Around here it's usually a little cheaper than granular. For me though, it's a longer drive and they don't always have applicators available. My granular dealer is a couple of miles away and always has buggies available. Both will apply for you and the liquid guy can spray at the same time.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I try to keep the PH around 6.5.

I will be using 28% liquid fertilizer on my OG for the first time this year. Thanks to our diaper-headed friends, ammonium nitrate is not available in my area. I've always applied urea before, so I'll be curious as to the results myself.

Did you soil test say that those applications where for soil buildup, or did that include your maintenance level needed, allowing for crop removal? The DAP and potash sounds low, so I'm guessing that that was for buildup only.

I usually apply 60-70 # actual (30-35 elemental) units of DAP and 250-300 # actual (150-200 elemental) units of potash / acre. These are the recommended levels for maintenance of soil fertility for hay crops. Hay (grasses and legumes) remove about 5# of phosphorous and 42# of potassium per ton of dry matter. So, if you're getting yields of 4-5 tons/acre/year, you'll be removing 20-25# phosphorous and 160-200# potassium/year.

BTW: make sure that you are talking elemental units vs actual weight. Sometimes the guys will talk pounds of actual and you're thinking pounds of elemental (or vice versa).

DAP contains 46# of elemental phosphorous / 100 # actual. Potash is 60 # elemental potassium / 100 # actual. DAP, potash and lime migrate slowly through the soil, so it can take several (4 or more) years to build up down to 6-12 inches.

Hope I didn't confuse you too much!

Ralph


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

When you talk about liquid N being cheaper than prilled (granular) N sources, are you talking about per ton of material, or per pound on actual N in the material? If by the ton, the liquid looks to be cheaper than the urea and ammonium nitrate. However, local pricing by the pound of N in the material shows that the liquid (urea-ammonium nitrate or UAN, 32-0-0) and urea (46-0-0), and ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) are all within two cents per pound of N of each other, or around $0.57 to $0.59 per pound of N. See the table below:


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Kyle,

As I reread your post, I think that you are referring to 60 lb of N/acre as ammonium nitrate. This would be 176 lbs of ammonium nitrate material per acre. Also you probably were wanting to say 15 lb of phosphorus as P2O5/acre from 33 lbs of diammonium phosphate and 60 lbs of K2O (potash) that would be from 100 lbs of muriate of potash (0-0-60).

For all of us on HayTalk, lets use *pounds* when we mean pounds. A unit of fertilizer is not a pound. In the old fertilizer handbooks, a *unit* of fertilizer was 20 pounds, if my memory serves me correctly. My 2 cents worth!


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Vhaby,

I was referring to units per acre in my post of not pounds per acre. The soil test results came back in units and that is what I posted. I called a guy here that deals with the Grasshopper liquid fertilizer and his prices were 50% cheaper than what CO-OP quoted me on the granular stuff. Even though I have never used the liquid type before my pocket book is telling me it's a no brainer! LOL.

Kyle


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## astropilot (Jun 3, 2008)

Also Look at Nachurs Liquid Fertilizers they are the oldest in the business. I am going to try Fortified on my field application rate is 2qt per arce and at $11.00 GAL isn't not bad. they also have a product called N-Rage its new and can be tank mixed with anything. Mark


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Astro,

Do they have a website? I wonder if there is a dealer here close to middle TN? Thanks.

Kyle


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Guess I'm missing something here. In your soil testing lab's recommendation, what is meant by a unit?

Also, there may be a lot that I don't know about plant nutrition. But, I can't for the life of me see how 2 qt/acre of any claimed fertilizer or soil amendment, even if it is 100% N, 100% P, and 100% K and claimed to be full of bacteria to make residual nutrients in soil available for plants, can possibly supply a crop's needs for these nutrients. Forages that I grow remove upwards to 50 - 60 lb of N/ton, 15 or so lb P2O5/ton, 40 - 60 lbs K2O/ton, plus calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and small amounts of micro-nutrients. If needed plant nutrients are not already in adequate concentration in the soil or supplied to the soil as commercial fertilizer or manures to meet the plant's demands, the plants will scrounge whatever they can from the soil, and if there are insufficient nutrients in the soil, yield will suffer.

I once heard that a renowned soil scientist told a group of farmers in a meeting that if you want to apply absolute 0 - 0 - 0, apply this fufu fertilizer. LOL!


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## astropilot (Jun 3, 2008)

Kyle, here is the website America's Leading Manufacturer of High Quality Liquid Fertilizers: NACHURS
Now, I am not saying it will completely replace granular fert., but it can be a good supplement and one needs to think outside of the box some.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

vhaby said:


> Guess I'm missing something here. In your soil testing lab's recommendation, what is meant by a unit?
> 
> Also, there may be a lot that I don't know about plant nutrition. But, I can't for the life of me see how 2 qt/acre of any claimed fertilizer or soil amendment, even if it is 100% N, 100% P, and 100% K and claimed to be full of bacteria to make residual nutrients in soil available for plants, can possibly supply a crop's needs for these nutrients.


I agree with you....with the price of fertilizer, I've been approached by people selling all sorts of stuff claiming that it will take care of my fertilizer requirements. Unfortunately, I've never been able to work the math out on any of them. "X" tons of hay remove "Y" pounds of nuturent from the soil. I love the idea where billions of microbes are working for free to manufacture nutrents, but I spent too many years calculating material balances to believe it.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

These liquid fertilizer guys remind me of traveling salesmen selling a cure all snake oil. It may be fine as a semi supplement but will never replace the real thing and I for one, will not waste my dollars on liquid.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Had a guy stop in here selling the next miracle additive, looked just like extremely dry peat. Also reminded me of the peat carrier that our dry soybean inoculant uses.

Was supposed to fix everything wrong with your soil, help reduce somatic cell count in your dairy cows and cure that really stubborn case of athletes foot.


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

The local CO-OP quoted me 1500 lbs of ammonium nitrate, 1500 lbs of Potash, and 500 pounds of DAP to spread over the 10 acre orchard grass field. He figured this based on the unit recommendations from the soil test. Now I'm not sure exactly how to figure all this out as I am very new to these soil tests. Do tests normally come back based on elemental units or actual weight????? Any help would be appreciated.

Astro,

Those numbers seem really low with only 2 qrt per acre and a gallon only being $11.00. The prices Grasshopper quoted me were much lower than what the CO-OP had quoted however it was still going to be around $60.00 a acre. The sales rep from Nachurs actually called and left me a voicemail today so I will call him back tonight and see what he has to say.

Kyle



vhaby said:


> Guess I'm missing something here. In your soil testing lab's recommendation, what is meant by a unit?
> 
> Also, there may be a lot that I don't know about plant nutrition. But, I can't for the life of me see how 2 qt/acre of any claimed fertilizer or soil amendment, even if it is 100% N, 100% P, and 100% K and claimed to be full of bacteria to make residual nutrients in soil available for plants, can possibly supply a crop's needs for these nutrients. Forages that I grow remove upwards to 50 - 60 lb of N/ton, 15 or so lb P2O5/ton, 40 - 60 lbs K2O/ton, plus calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and small amounts of micro-nutrients. If needed plant nutrients are not already in adequate concentration in the soil or supplied to the soil as commercial fertilizer or manures to meet the plant's demands, the plants will scrounge whatever they can from the soil, and if there are insufficient nutrients in the soil, yield will suffer.
> 
> I once heard that a renowned soil scientist told a group of farmers in a meeting that if you want to apply absolute 0 - 0 - 0, apply this fufu fertilizer. LOL!


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## astropilot (Jun 3, 2008)

Guys also check out No-Till Farmer - Welcome to No-TillFarmer there are alot of good info on micro-nutrients on this site. It talks about worms too. Mark


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