Brokenbear
5 year old buck +
For those who may not have had the opportunity or thought about serious fertilizer applications read on as it is absolutely the cheapest way to have your plots and habitat projects successful .....you can have all the best equipment, seeds, lime, timing rain and luck in the world but no plant nutrition can be a game killer ..
Consider using your Coop (or local AG service center) for a one time (or more) fertilizer buggy rental (if you are not already) and use it to bring all your area up to snuff at one time..
I and my Coop are in a very rural farm area and even they have small medium and large fertilizer buggies/spreaders ..the Coop can take your soil samples reports and calculate the actual NET pounds of each of the elements you will need to get your soils balanced and productive ..
How you fill out your "expectations" on the form that will accompany your soil samples is very important ..in naming the actual crop involved and the yield you are expecting will all play an important part in getting the mix and poundage correct
My Coop does not scoff at my small orders ..buggy rental is like $10 ..and if you do not want to pull a loaded buggy they will deliver for like $20 ..I take mine back empty but they will also pick up ..
A 25/30 HP tractor will handle the small buggy with ease on level ground ..and the guy who delivers it will be glad to not only show you how it functions but likely help you hook it up
When you order the fertilizer they will ask how many acres you are wanting to fertilize (be sure to take them your soil sample)
They will also ask you if you want one pass or two to spread which I use the two pass system where I go over the field east/west then north/south to spread evenly
It will be the responsibility of the Coop personnel to set the buggy/spreader controls so that the the machine will spread over each acre the required pounds per acre
You as the operator only have to engage the the drive wheel (which delivery guy will show you) which is simply a boat trailer tire sitting on the spreader's tire running a sprocket n chain to move the belt the fertilizer is on to the spinning spreader which is of course run by your PTO from your tractor
Do not let the thought of using a spreader intimidate you as it is EAZY to operate ...and I can assure you it's a much much cheaper way to correct your soil health
Only one rule to follow when in operation ..well two.. no three ..no sharp turns ..sweeping curves only and slow down at ditch crossing and rough ground ..don't worry about slowing down as the belt feeding the fertilizer is slowing down when you slow down ..and if you move from one field to another field remember to disengage the boat trailer tire from the spreader tire so the fertilizer stops feeding ..then re-engage at the next field the boat trailer tire to feed the fertilizer
This is redundant to most all of you seasoned veterans of farming and plotting ..but there are surely new blood coming along every day that maybe ..just maybe not realize what fertilizer that comes in a bag sometimes is not all that much fertilizer and occasionally ..you have to get out the big gun to do the job ..
Bear
Consider using your Coop (or local AG service center) for a one time (or more) fertilizer buggy rental (if you are not already) and use it to bring all your area up to snuff at one time..
I and my Coop are in a very rural farm area and even they have small medium and large fertilizer buggies/spreaders ..the Coop can take your soil samples reports and calculate the actual NET pounds of each of the elements you will need to get your soils balanced and productive ..
How you fill out your "expectations" on the form that will accompany your soil samples is very important ..in naming the actual crop involved and the yield you are expecting will all play an important part in getting the mix and poundage correct
My Coop does not scoff at my small orders ..buggy rental is like $10 ..and if you do not want to pull a loaded buggy they will deliver for like $20 ..I take mine back empty but they will also pick up ..
A 25/30 HP tractor will handle the small buggy with ease on level ground ..and the guy who delivers it will be glad to not only show you how it functions but likely help you hook it up
When you order the fertilizer they will ask how many acres you are wanting to fertilize (be sure to take them your soil sample)
They will also ask you if you want one pass or two to spread which I use the two pass system where I go over the field east/west then north/south to spread evenly
It will be the responsibility of the Coop personnel to set the buggy/spreader controls so that the the machine will spread over each acre the required pounds per acre
You as the operator only have to engage the the drive wheel (which delivery guy will show you) which is simply a boat trailer tire sitting on the spreader's tire running a sprocket n chain to move the belt the fertilizer is on to the spinning spreader which is of course run by your PTO from your tractor
Do not let the thought of using a spreader intimidate you as it is EAZY to operate ...and I can assure you it's a much much cheaper way to correct your soil health
Only one rule to follow when in operation ..well two.. no three ..no sharp turns ..sweeping curves only and slow down at ditch crossing and rough ground ..don't worry about slowing down as the belt feeding the fertilizer is slowing down when you slow down ..and if you move from one field to another field remember to disengage the boat trailer tire from the spreader tire so the fertilizer stops feeding ..then re-engage at the next field the boat trailer tire to feed the fertilizer
This is redundant to most all of you seasoned veterans of farming and plotting ..but there are surely new blood coming along every day that maybe ..just maybe not realize what fertilizer that comes in a bag sometimes is not all that much fertilizer and occasionally ..you have to get out the big gun to do the job ..
Bear