# liquid fertilizer?



## dfloyd0105 (Feb 12, 2012)

We are new to the hay business and was wondering if anyone was using the liqiud fertilizer and if so what were the results and brand choices. Thanks


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I use it once in a while. I've got a Simplot dealer (used to be Texas Liquid) about 15 miles away. The only problem I've had with them is they are always short on applicators during the growing season. I typically wait until I see rain coming on the radar before I go get it and the granular guy always has a buggy available. He's also more expensive. I don't like to put it down without decent ground moisture during the application or shortly after because it will burn the grass. I was considering building a tool bar with coulters/knives to put it in, but don't have time to mess with it this winter. I've had good results with it and like it. We're having a wet winter and I'm planning to use it on my initial applications. After that it depends on the weather and applicator availability.

I do not use liquid foliar fertilizer. I haven't seen any real research that it does much good and it's pretty expensive.


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## wappmanb (Nov 15, 2010)

Here is some info on an alternative liquid fertilizer.

www.naturalfertilizer.info

Contact me for info and application rates

Bruce


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

I've got a Simplot dealer (used to be Texas Liquid) about 15 miles away.

For a minute there I thought we might be close! Eight miles south of here, Holland TX, we had the same switch.

If you are not going to inject anhydrous you do not NEED the knives, just a pipe behind the coulter.

If I ever lose access to anhydrous I would build a bar with 30" to as much as *42"* separation between drops. 
I like a 60 inch seperation for anhydrous, but use a custom applicator now and he has 20" speration.

The tip on each out side coulter would have a half rate flow, & use the coulter track to keep from getting too lost.

As I understand your soil there is no danger of nitrogen leaching down below the root zone let alone to an aquifer.

Squirt N & P behind the coulters and top dress seperatly potash, &/or K-Mag, &/or AMS with some boron, with micro's to taste.

You will be feeling your way in the dark, but apply 0-0-60 &c following the June cutting, to give the bermudagrass a boost of potassium going into our summer drought. Feel your way year to year. I want my grass's hay analysis to show >2.00% K looking for something in the 2.50% to 2.60% K range, for better moisture use efficiency.

I have yet to accomplish what the desired hay analysis potassium.

I do not ask for a hay analysis because my customers are at most interested in protein. Take the N percentage times 6.25 = CP. The plant analysis I use is $22 I believe while the Hay analysis is $30. Not only that but the Hay analysis does not report sulfur or boron levels.

I believe the Dairy Goat Ass meets around Waller, sometime in January. I suggested to Vanessa at TFGC that they might have a meeting in at the same time as the Goat folks and educate hay growers on Goats needs and the Goat folks about what the Hay Growers can do for them. If they fall for that they might be interested in concurrent sessions for the horse owners, as well as the sheep and goat owners. Maybe throw a bone to the cattlemen.

The movers and shakers of TFGC say Texas but they become nervous west of I-35. That or they are very territorial in the Texas Extension with an East Central & Western territories. How do you like their Insurance Company Name, Texas Agra Life?

Supposedly this applies to the TAMU Campus. 
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."


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

You may notice this writer has a low regard for that Cow College on the Lower Brazos. 
Being a 1956 graduate from SWTSTC it comes easy.

In a few years I may try to enroll there in their graduate program, with the expetation of being thrown out for being a disruptive influence.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Hey Hay Wilson,

Good Luck passing graduate school admission requirements!!!!! That's a lot harder than it used to be. But then again, you could probably do it.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

AG Grand Natural Fertilizers for the home and the farm

You've got to be kidding...$118 per pound of actual nitrogen in the 4-3-3 liquid???? Coastal bermudagrass and Tifton 85 bermudagrass need 90 - 100 lb of nitrogen per cutting for good hay yields. Do the math and then try to convince me that these grasses don't need that much nitrogen when fertilized with your liquid fertilizer in a jug.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

hay wilson in TX said:


> For a minute there I thought we might be close! Eight miles south of here, Holland TX, we had the same switch.


I use the one in Hempstead, I was hoping Simplot would improve them, but no such luck. I'll holler at you the next time I'm in the Temple area. Academy seems to have the only diesel South of Temple.



hay wilson in TX said:


> If you are not going to inject anhydrous you do not NEED the knives, just a pipe behind the coulter.


Yeah, I know...it was shorter to type "knife"......You've got me started thinking again. When I'm through building the new boom for my sprayer I'm going to go see if I can find an old seeder that I can strip for the toolbar and coulter assemblies.



hay wilson in TX said:


> Squirt N & P behind the coulters and top dress seperatly potash, &/or K-Mag, &/or AMS with some boron, with micro's to taste.


Now I'm curious....Why top dress the potash separately? I used 0,0,60 last year to promote luxurious consumption and I'm convinced it's the reason I was cutting hay at all last summer. I was thinking of squirting NPK every time and boosting the K around June.



hay wilson in TX said:


> I believe the Dairy Goat Ass meets around Waller, sometime in January. I suggested to Vanessa at TFGC that they might have a meeting in at the same time as the Goat folks and educate hay growers on Goats needs and the Goat folks about what the Hay Growers can do for them. If they fall for that they might be interested in concurrent sessions for the horse owners, as well as the sheep and goat owners. Maybe throw a bone to the cattlemen.


I'm about 6-7 miles from Waller....Where do they meet? I didn't think there was anyplace in town that would hold more than a dozen people. I know a goat guy that I call when I roll up a weedy field. All the goats want are the weeds. I'd get a couple if they weren't so hard to keep contained, probably save a fortune in Grazon.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Mike120 said:


> I do not use liquid foliar fertilizer. I haven't seen any real research that it does much good and it's pretty expensive.


Father tried that years ago when we were in the dairy business, could never see any real improvement and certainly not enough to justify the extra pass across a hay field. I can say we have seen a yield boost in Soybeans, but again we never make a separate pass just to foliar feed. Always apply the foliar along with roundup or if on the rare occasion we need to apply fungicide. Best yields are achieved in any crop by keeping your fertility right at the root level, if any MAJOR yield increases are from using a foliar feed it's my opinion you need to learn to soil sample properly or do it more often.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

mlappin said:


> Best yields are achieved in any crop by keeping your fertility right at the root level, if any MAJOR yield increases are from using a foliar feed it's my opinion you need to learn to soil sample properly or do it more often.


I agree....The guy my neighbor used last year has a multi-tank/multi-nozzle setup. Sprays roundup and dribbles liquid (not foliar) fertilizer in the same pass. I've seen a few people trying to sell foliar for hay fields, but I don't know anyone who used it. As Vhaby pointed out, it's expensive and you don't get much for it.


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## CockrellHillFarms (Aug 30, 2011)

I've used foliar on hay fields and beans. When you spray ur hay, this is what you need. You need about 4 inches of growth. That will allow you to have enough leaf to get the fertilizer on. Ideally, you would want to do it about a day or two before a rain. That way it will most likely prevent burning. You can also spray for weeds on the same pass. With this method, the weeds usually come on first before the grass, so with 4 inches of growth on the grass ur also catching the weeds before they are very tall/take off. The maximum I would spray is 80 lb +/- of nitrogen to make sure it doesnt burn. On beans, I cant remember what exact stage you spray. But you want them to have some height on them. Last time we sprayed beans with the foliar spray, we ended up just short of 70 bushel beans. We had good rain, got it planted at the right time, and got it sprayed correctly. I think you boys are messing out on some good stuff when it is applied correctly. I still do mostly granular fert. because I dont have my own sprayer but I think I will be looking for a sprayer in the near future so that I can go more toward the foliar spray. Its a pain waiting/scheduling someone else to come spray for you.


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## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

I have been using Growers Mineral Solution for several years now. Part of the program is also making sure your calcium levels are high enough for the soil to function properly. This is a completely foliar fertilizer product. I used 8 gallons per acre for the entire season, in several applications. Growers is 10-20-10 with a pretty good trace mineral package in it. Cost was around $10 per gallon, so total fertilzer cost for the year was $80, and the fields yielded 5 tons per acre. The last analysis was 23.5 on the protein, ADF 25.4%, TDN 71%, and RFV 169. BUT this was on a silt loam soil, and I do not know what you have down there. Also the heat in the south will make application trickery. This is all I use on my alfalfa, and the fields get 10 ton of high cal lime when I plant them. Around here the 10 tons cost 140 on the field so it is pretty cheap. Personally where I am, I have not bought potash since they took me broke in 2008, and I will never by potash again.


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## Bob M (Feb 11, 2012)

Barry, we looked at Growers Fertilizer several years. The concept made me a little nervous. Do your fields get manure when not in alfalfa? Also have you seen any drop in potash levels on your soil tests? We are always looking for better ways of doing things.


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