# Do you test soil and or plant tissue?



## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Wondering how many folks do soil and tissue testing. You select both if you do both. If you test, let us know if the results helped improve your yields.


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## Feed Hay (May 30, 2008)

I soil test every two years and adjust accordingly. Never tissue tested but hear more and more about it. If anyone tissues tests, let me know if it was worth it. How much better is your yield because of it? Thanks.
Scott


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## chetlenox (Jun 5, 2008)

I do both soil and tissue tests, but mainly because I'm new to baling my own hay (2 years now) and need the results so I have some sort of clue as to what I'm supposed to be doing. My thoughts:

Soil tests: Seems like this is nearly mandatory, considering the high cost of fertilizer. I certainly don't want to be spending $450/ton for something that I don't need! A $20 test and an hour of work can pay for itself in a hurry. The boys down at Texas A&M do a good job of outlining their recommendations (tons/acre) for my soil and yield goals, so it's easy for even a guy like me to understand. I could potentially see going to an every-other-year schedule once I've been doing this for a while and if the recommendations start becoming pretty regular.

Things I've learned:
1) No liming required for me. Evidently my heavy-clay soil is pretty basic, so even regular use of acidifying fertilizer (I used ammonium sulfate for my nitrogen this year) has not hurt anything. Lime isn't cheap, so this saved me.
2) For Coastal Bermuda, lots of nitrogen is required to get the protein content up. And high protein is what my local horse owners seem to want.

Tissue tests: Like I said, I do it, but mainly to teach me the basics of the quality of hay that I've gotten for each cutting. I'm probably learning stuff that people that have been doing this a while just know.

Things I've learned:
1) For protein, it's all about timing. I peak at about 30 days between cuttings (like everybody else) and start losing protein content at a rate of about 1% every 5-7 days I wait. My typical cuttings are around 13%, and I've had as high as 15% protein. That doesn't really save me money, but I'm pretty sure I'm able to charge a little more when I've got high protein numbers.
2) My first cutting hay (which is mostly winter rye and some clover, not much Bermuda growth when I cut around May 1st) is actually pretty good stuff. Protein content and energy is good, fiber content isn't all that bad. Not as great at my 2nd cutting Coastal, but certainly not throw-away hay. I've now started charging a little more ($4/bale) for it, before I was charging $3 because I didn't think it was worth that much. Horse folks kept buying and report their horses really like it. Evidently they can also read the same report from A&M.









Just my thoughts,

Chet.


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

jUST SOIL TEST


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## 4020man (Jun 21, 2008)

We try to do soil tests every couple years. We plan to to plant testing next year


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

I soil test as a backup for Tissue testing.

Tissue testing is my primary tool for fertility management.

Every field & every cutting has it's hay tested and the mineral analysis is used to monitor fertility also.


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