Fertilizer spreading

[Brady D]

Stopped by the local co-op to get the fertilizer wagon and a couple thousand pounds of fertilizer for my sheep fields, the little ford took it like a champ.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never done that before, but it's been on my list of things to learn about when I get my land cleared. Can you share some more info about what you are spreading and how the pricing works in your area?

 

[Brady D]

I've never done that before, but it's been on my list of things to learn about when I get my land cleared. Can you share some more info about what you are spreading and how the pricing works in your area?

The people at the counter suggested I believe they called it 603030 with some weed killer mixed in it’s also pasture safe so it won’t harm the animals, you spread it about 200 pounds per acre is what they suggested

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks. I did a soil test when I first bought my land and it came back that I needed half a ton per acre of lime. That overwhelmed me, so I sort of never bothered with any of that since then. Eventually I'll need to do another test and start working on improving my pastures, but for now, I'm still taking out trees and just trying to get some pasture.

 

[ddbackhoe]

I've never done that before, but it's been on my list of things to learn about when I get my land cleared. Can you share some more info about what you are spreading and how the pricing works in your area?

Best bet is to use soil sampling. Results from your soil samples will give the recommended nitrogen/phosphate/potash mix (101010, 603030, etc) and spread rate. Depending on whats growing there now and how it gets cleared would also help determine what else gets mixed in (lime, etc)
Do you have a local county extension office? The local USDA offices can be somewhat useful too in helping you get setup with nutrient management, livestock rotation, etc.
Some grant funding may be available for fencing, livestock waterer installation, green space initiative (open space, etc), wildflower plots…….

”free money” can be a good thing but it usually includes loopholes for what you cant do too

as an example; Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Thanks. I did a soil test when I first bought my land and it came back that I needed half a ton per acre of lime. That overwhelmed me, so I sort of never bothered with any of that since then. Eventually I'll need to do another test and start working on improving my pastures, but for now, I'm still taking out trees and just trying to get some pasture.

Eddie , Lime and Dolomite are usually pretty inexpensive per ton , so getting your soil ph right really wont be to expensive at 1000 pounds per acre, I think dolomite is going for about $23.00 per ton around here, and 20-0-20 seems to be most folks go to around here for pasture fertlilizer , but unlike dolomite it is running about $ 550.00 per ton right now , down from $ 750.00 per ton last year.

 

[mo1]

Stopped by the local co-op to get the fertilizer wagon and a couple thousand pounds of fertilizer for my sheep fields, the little ford took it like a champ.

A fertilizer wagon is just a rolling load, so how heavy of a tractor you need depends on how much fertilizer is in the wagon and how flat or not your land is. The spreader you have looks like a pretty typical 5-6 ton spreader, which would weigh not that much more than your tractor if it had one ton of fertilizer in it. So, I am not surprised that the tractor would handle it easily. If it was completely full and you had some hills, you would need your Farmall 95 to pull that.

Thanks. I did a soil test when I first bought my land and it came back that I needed half a ton per acre of lime. That overwhelmed me, so I sort of never bothered with any of that since then. Eventually I'll need to do another test and start working on improving my pastures, but for now, I'm still taking out trees and just trying to get some pasture.

Be careful when looking at your soil test results when dealing with lime. What you will need to see is what the recommended effective neutralization material (ENM) per acre is. The university extension that does soil testing here only quotes ENM/acre for a lime recommendation for growing an ag crop (they will quote lb of typical bagged garden store lime/1000 sq ft for a garden though.) Ag lime can vary in how much ENM is in a ton of lime based on the exact type of lime used as well as how fine it is. Around here most ag lime is about 400-500 lb ENM per ton, so if you need 1000 lb ENM/acre and your lime is 500 lb ENM/ton, you need two tons of lime/acre rather than 1/2 ton. Generally applying lime to more than an acre or two is something that is hired out and spread by a lime truck due to the large quantity of lime required.

Fertilizer recommendations are usually quoted as lb/acre in the soil test. Bring that information into the co-op or fertilizer plant and they will figure out a mix and spread rate that comes close to your numbers as exactly what stock fertilizers they have may vary. Thus there really isn't a general recommendation for what to use as everybody will be different. For example, I got a mix of DAP (18-46-0) and KCl (0-0-60) this year as my soil is pretty deficient in phosphorus and potassium (especially the latter) but the grass/clover I am growing needs little nitrogen.