Where to Find, Fertilizer and Lime

[Steven Tolly]

Ok I have one plot that we cannot get to with a tractor it is three acres in the middle of a CRP field. The creek is washed out and getting in from the back is a pain. So where do I find fertilizer and lime I can spread with my 4 wheeler and pull behind spreader. Can I get it in bags that do not cost 15.00 a bag like they do at the box stores? IS there anyway to get enough lime back there? I am getting the soil for a soil test this weekend. Last year we had winter rye in it and the deer used it all winter long. The rye is still there so I am spraying and prepping this weekend. It is in central Iowa.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Go to a farmers coop and they can hook you up with anything you need. You can buy lime in 50# bags from a farm type store. Up here that would be fleet farm or runnings.

 

[Steven Tolly]

That is where I got rye last year. I emailed them today asking about lime and fert today. I am just worried how I am going to get 1000 lbs back there. That is a lot of trips considering the only thing crossing the creek is my wheeler or UTV. I do not even think I could get a wagon up the hill this year.

 

[TreeDaddy]

My local Co-Op /feed store is cheaper than TSC,Atwoods etc as they blend their mixes on site

I handle the 1000 lbs by putting 500lbs in the cyclone spreader and 500lbs in the FEL

1000 would be too much of a struggle for my UTV

bill

 

[Tree Spud]

Why do you feel you need to lime for winter rye? WR & clover will grow in your driveway. That is why they common pasture mixes where soil amendments are not considered.

Proper soil chemistry is important if you are planting AG crops for production such as corn or beans where fertilizer & herbicide balance is important.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Here,

Go buy one of these....

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/for/d/lakeville-water-tank-used-for-beverages/6873410010.html


Then take it to the coop and put it on a pallet. Have them take a forklift and lift it up to the chute and blend ANYTHING you want/need and dump it in there. That thing should hold close to 800-1,000# of fertilizer and they can set it right in the back of your truck. A ton of 9-23-30 for example should be around $450. You shouldn't need near that much for 3 acres. Strap it down and throw a tarp over it and drive back to your woods. Once you get it there shovel it into some smaller totes or 5 gallon pails and drive up to the plot with your UTV and spread. Might have to make a few trips. Grab the lime in 50# bags if you need any. If your PH is over 6 I wouldn't even waste my time with the lime.


Once your done hauling the fertilizer bury the tank in the ground for a waterhole.

 

[Peeps]

Before you buy something to put the blended fertilizer in for your truck check with the coop. Many have large plastic “bags” that they spread out in your truck box and then fill it. I would wait a bit to spray that rye. My deer are hammering my rye rt now but I’m further north and not much is green yet here.

 

[Redonthehead]

I've taken my utility trailer to the local fertilizer plant, spread a big tarp on it letting it hang over the rails, dump the fertilizer on it then folded/strapped it all down. Hauled it the 15 miles then shoveled loads into the broadcaster on the back of my UTV. Saved quite a bit over 50 lb bags. I think the guy put my cash in his pocket.

 

[mglenn005]

That is where I got rye last year. I emailed them today asking about lime and fert today. I am just worried how I am going to get 1000 lbs back there. That is a lot of trips considering the only thing crossing the creek is my wheeler or UTV. I do not even think I could get a wagon up the hill this year.

With a four wheeler, I spread 1400 lbs of fertilizer and 1400 lbs of seed each year. Approximately 50# at a time. It takes several hours but it isn’t difficult at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[buckdeer1]

I usually buy fertilizer and pelletized lime from the bulk section and it's alot cheaper.I fill 5 gal buckets and weigh then pay that amount as divided by the ton cost.I can get 5 acres worth in buckets or feed tubs

 

[Barndog56]

Food plots are like real estate - location, location, location. If your food plot is located where the deer want to be, they'll eat your clover and rye, and anything else, whether its been limed, fertilized, or not. Save the time, money, and effort.

 

[MRBB]

tractor supply company stores were just selling 40 lb bags of pelleted lime on sale , 3 bags for 9.99
might want to check and see if sale is still running!
was running here for a few weeks now!

 

[MRBB]

Food plots are like real estate - location, location, location. If your food plot is located where the deer want to be, they'll eat your clover and rye, and anything else, whether its been limed, fertilized, or not. Save the time, money, and effort.

yeah but if the soil won't allow things to grow, bad PH< what good is wasting time trying op make anything grow if your not going to do it right, or at least enough to make things grow!
weeds and crap can grow in most places good food WON":T

 

[Barndog56]

he's in central Iowa, and has already been growing rye there. His soil will test between 6.3 and 7.4, and will grow anything. But I'm sure the fertilizer company will be glad to sell him 2,000 pounds per acre of lime year after year after year. And his ph will barely fluctuate from year to year.

The whole ph\lime\nitrogen racket is modern ag's version of snake oil.

Buy and read Dirt To Soil or Growing A Revolution to find a better way.

 

[MRBB]

he's in central Iowa, and has already been growing rye there. His soil will test between 6.3 and 7.4, and will grow anything. But I'm sure the fertilizer company will be glad to sell him 2,000 pounds per acre of lime year after year after year. And his ph will barely fluctuate from year to year.

The whole ph\lime\nitrogen racket is modern ag's version of snake oil.

Buy and read Dirt To Soil or Growing A Revolution to find a better way.

this is why a simple 10 bucks on a soil test will save many a lot of $$ or, save them from wasting a lot of time and energy NOT doing one!

just THINKING all is well , is never the best way to do anything!

 

[Steven Tolly]

I was hoping someone would say that about lime. I just cannot see how to get that much back there. The Rye has grown great so I have high hopes the soil test says good things. I think I am going to stick with some clovers, buckwheat in part of it this spring with some sunflowers and milo, something for the birds on the other half.

 

[Tree Spud]

this is why a simple 10 bucks on a soil test will save many a lot of $$ or, save them from wasting a lot of time and energy NOT doing one!

just THINKING all is well , is never the best way to do anything!

Hate to argue .... but when you tell a newbie to measure their soil chemistry, you are creating the conditions for anxiety, second guessing, and those that want to convince them that something is missing.

 

[Tree Spud]

I was hoping someone would say that about lime. I just cannot see how to get that much back there. The Rye has grown great so I have high hopes the soil test says good things. I think I am going to stick with some clovers, buckwheat in part of it this spring with some sunflowers and milo, something for the birds on the other half.

If the soil is lowland & poorly drained, try Alsike clover. I have used it in peaty bog areas that are wet with very good results.

Don't be afraid to broadcast seed with turnips & rape. If you have bottomland soil, could be nutrient rich.

 

[cavey]

Its an out of the backside guess, but really 75% of the food plotters out there dont need to do much more than good weed control to maintain a "good" plot(and in most cases some weeds are not always a bad thing - deer love weeds). Most soils though in need of lime, and fertilizer will grow winter rye and or winter wheat and decent clovers. Short of owning a gravel pit or sand mine the average chunk of land has enough nutrients and organic matter to work with and being that it is no longer being cropped (product being removed from the land) there is less demand on the land and in fact your soil should be improving. If your trying to grow alfalfa well then maybe your ph is absolutely important. Get the soil test, nothing wrong with that - it will create anxiety and second guessing but hopefully if you dont panic and over react it will lead to a better understanding of where your base is with your soil.

If you want to perfect your food plots and really enjoy that and do not mind tossing money around... thats cool too. It is cool to see your corn standing tall and pushing 180 bushels to the acre but it might also be food plot over kill, I personally think its a cost/balance/need/want thing. There is a lot of hype and its an industry with the latest and greatest you need this now thingy for drawing in monster bucks buy buy buy.

If its working for you - the winter rye... I would keep doing what your doing. WR is kind of a soil builder which can fix some nitrogen - I doubt you will deplete your field growing it as a food plot. It is a pain to mow back down - kind of stringy when mature-- always got wrapped up in my mower if it didnt get browsed down. I kind of liked a WR WW mix.

You can get your local farm co-op to dump a load of lime at the end of your driveway or on a field edge for not much depending on trucking from a nearby lime quarry - if you have them nearby- not everybody does.. If you have a trailer you could go to the quarry, load and scale out - cut them a check. Im not sure you need to buy bulk fertilizer for 3 acres but what ever works and is cheaper.

 

[Steven Tolly]

Well the ground has not been planted in 20 years or more. It has been in CRP since I hunted the farm as a kid, it has flooded a handful of times in those 20 years and last year was one of those years. The rye did well on the three acres last year. This year I am hoping to split between half for deer and half for the pheasants on the back half. So I have some clover coming with crimson, ladino white, medium red, alsike and berseem and was going to mix in some buckwheat. Or some winter wheat or something. If I do that what could I throw in later in the fall to fill in the bare spots and help them through the winter? Rye or what?

The other half is a pheasants forever rooster blend that I picked up, sorghum, milo, and some other stuff.

The biggest problem is I cannot disc or till it without driving a tractor across a marshland or a hell of a creek. So throw and mow it is. I can get my harrow, sprayer and wheeler back there that is about it.

Thanks for all your help. I have only been working on food plots for the last three years, but now on my uncle's 500 acres I have 4 plots all around 3 acres apiece, plus he just started planted 80 of the acres for the first time in years. so all summer they have his beans and corn to eat, plus all the surrounding fields. My other 3 plots are all being tilled and getting beans this year and I will throw some rye in them come fall so they have something green early in the spring. They loved having the rye this year.