Fertilizer Recommendations based on Soil Test

[southboundfishing]

Im new to food plots and am trying to get a better understanding of fertilizer requirements based on my soil tests......This would be for our summer cover crop... All of our fields ph is between 6.6 and 7.3, average CEC is 8. My question is the fertilizer recommendations for most of the fields are 20(N) 40(P) and 110(k). What blend of fertilizer would your recommend? Since im planting legumes and sunn hemp would you just apply potash only at around 110lbs per acre? I know a lot of people that put 250-300 lbs per acre of 19-19-19 but that seems like a waste of money. What am I missing?Thanks in advance as i'm new to this and am trying to learn as much as I can before springtime.....

 

[Honker]

You might find this site helpful. It can help you calculate needs and amounts based on what is available in your area.

NPK Fertilizer Calculator

 

[FarmerDan]

It's a dilemma....and a judgement call. You don't say what you're planting nor how many acres. If you choose to amend the soil with fertilizer you'll be constrained by what's available and by the amount you'll need. If the acreage is small you'll likely be buying bags and the analysis available in bags is limited. If you are talking tons of fertilizer then a bulk blend might be possible. Bulk blends can be custom mixed so you are applying the number of pounds of N-P-K you wish to apply - assuming you have the equipment to do bulk applications or are willing to pay to have it done. Finally, the recommendation your were given? It'll get you in the ballpark, but, remember, it's only a recommendation. What's recommended and what we often do are sometimes worlds apart.

 

[southboundfishing]

Ill be planting 30 acres of cowpeas and sunn hemp and we do have the ability to get custom blends and buy by the ton

 

[FarmerDan]

If you decide to go with the recommendation go to the place where you will buy your blend and tell them what you want. They'll figure it out. And, you do need the phosphorous if the recommendation is 40 lbs/acre. If I were blending it I'd use DAP (diammonium phosphate 18-46-0), urea (46-0-0) to up the N to 20lbs/acres - 15 lbs is from the DAP, and Muriate of Potash, 0-0-60.

For the 30 acres:
DAP - 2,610 lbs supplies 40lbs P/acre and 15 lbs of N
Urea - 325 lbs supplies 5 lbs of N/acre
Potash - 5,500 lbs supplies 110 lbs of K per acre

Comes to just over 280 lbs of blended material per acre, guaranteed analysis 7-14-39.

I hope I did my math right!

 

[bigboreblr]

not too familiar with sunny hemp. However you cec is only 8. A healthy dose at one shot will likely wash away down stream or too deep.....

you might want a starter dose, then spread some more during a fall crop, or go slow per year.

cow peas make nitrogen.

166 lbs an acre of 6-24-24 will take care of you phosphorus. Potash usual comes in 0-0-56. The 6-24-24 at 166 only adds 40 lb acre potash. To get to 110 you need 125lbs an acre potash.

no clue on cec limit calculation, but I'd do about 30% at seeding and 30% early summer, then do the other 40% next year.

30 acres is alot of crops, definitely a custom mix. Looking at 4-5 ton's of fertilizer.

at that size maybe you should rent the land out. Ask them to leave it a bit messy, or late harvedt. Then do overwintering crops too. Or do winter rye and clover yourself after the harvest.

 

[SD51555]

Depends on how you're going to transition from crop to crop. If you're going to do a lot of fallow periods, stick to those fertilizer recommendations very closely and pray for rain an weed control. If you're going to stay green, those fert recommendations aren't as big of a deal.

 

[yoderjac]

Im new to food plots and am trying to get a better understanding of fertilizer requirements based on my soil tests......This would be for our summer cover crop... All of our fields ph is between 6.6 and 7.3, average CEC is 8. My question is the fertilizer recommendations for most of the fields are 20(N) 40(P) and 110(k). What blend of fertilizer would your recommend? Since im planting legumes and sunn hemp would you just apply potash only at around 110lbs per acre? I know a lot of people that put 250-300 lbs per acre of 19-19-19 but that seems like a waste of money. What am I missing?Thanks in advance as i'm new to this and am trying to learn as much as I can before springtime.....

If you are new, I'd suggest you step back and watch some "Ray the soil guy" videos. Start with infiltration, it is short. Then read through the Crimson n Camo T&M thread. It is long but he shows how folks can apply the min-till/no-till techniques to small equipment. When we till, we burn OM and destroy the natural soil tilth and nutrient cycling ability. That is one reason traditional tillage techniques require high inputs. It took my soil quite a few years to recover from tillage abuse of my early years, but I'm now using no fertilizer at all.

The next thing to consider is the difference between commercial farming and food plots. With commercial farming, there is a financial component. Commercial farmers need high yield on a per acre basis to make a profit and fertilizer can be a factor in that equation. Next, farmers remove much of the nutrition when they harvest, another reason they need to replenish it with commercial fertilizer. With food plots we don't harvest, the only nutrients extracted is what animals eat, and the redeposit much of it back through droppings. Finally, because farmers harvest, they generally have to plant monocultures to match harvest equipment. Food plotters can chose a wise mix of complementary crops like legumes and grasses/grains. These crops are supportive of each other nutritionally as well as deer.

You see from some of the videos that even commercial farmers with large equipment can significantly reduce inputs with no-till techniques and the use of cover crops. With the advantages deer managers have, it is possible to completely eliminate it.

Fertilizer recommendations are generally intended for farmers. Except for very specialized tests, they don't test for N. That means the recommendations are based only on the needs of crops and don't account for the N content of your soil. The best they do is ask for previous crop and if it was a legume provide some N credits.

This forum has a lot of good information on min-till/no-till techniques and soil health. I spent a number of years doing more harm than good to my soil. One more consideration. When you eliminate fertilizer, you eliminate a lot of cost and save time. These resources can be applied to planting more acreage at lower density as well as other habitat improvements depending on your specific situation.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bassattackr]

Given your acerage I’d do the custom blend @FarmerDan recommended. Spread in at planting time and then plant away!

If you’re stuck using bags (for those on smaller averages), bags of 6-24-24 or 6-28-28 gets you close, then maybe a couple bags of red potash 0-0-60 as Dan mentions.

Be sure and soil test again next year (at the same time you did this year), for most accurate results.

7-14-39 is definitely not a problem with a CEC of 8. 100-14-39 would be however…

 

[omicron1792]

Man, I spend a lot of money on my farm. A lot.

But using 4 tons of fertilizer on food plots for deer is crazy. And prob does more harm long term than good. I think most early info was from farmers, and people just copied them.

But now that ain’t true. You have lots and lots of good info just for food plotters. And many have gone completely away from fertilizer and the rest have decreased.

Yoders post above is dead on.

Use some lime, 13-13-13 and 0-20-20 to jump start things, plant diverse and green, don’t till, then use all the extra time and money to kill deer.

Hell, I’ve seen the deer walk through my manicured plot to eat the ragweed I missed on the side.

 

[southboundfishing]

If you are new, I'd suggest you step back and watch some "Ray the soil guy" videos. Start with infiltration, it is short. Then read through the Crimson n Camo T&M thread. It is long but he shows how folks can apply the min-till/no-till techniques to small equipment. When we till, we burn OM and destroy the natural soil tilth and nutrient cycling ability. That is one reason traditional tillage techniques require high inputs. It took my soil quite a few years to recover from tillage abuse of my early years, but I'm now using no fertilizer at all.

The next thing to consider is the difference between commercial farming and food plots. With commercial farming, there is a financial component. Commercial farmers need high yield on a per acre basis to make a profit and fertilizer can be a factor in that equation. Next, farmers remove much of the nutrition when they harvest, another reason they need to replenish it with commercial fertilizer. With food plots we don't harvest, the only nutrients extracted is what animals eat, and the redeposit much of it back through droppings. Finally, because farmers harvest, they generally have to plant monocultures to match harvest equipment. Food plotters can chose a wise mix of complementary crops like legumes and grasses/grains. These crops are supportive of each other nutritionally as well as deer.

You see from some of the videos that even commercial farmers with large equipment can significantly reduce inputs with no-till techniques and the use of cover crops. With the advantages deer managers have, it is possible to completely eliminate it.

Fertilizer recommendations are generally intended for farmers. Except for very specialized tests, they don't test for N. That means the recommendations are based only on the needs of crops and don't account for the N content of your soil. The best they do is ask for previous crop and if it was a legume provide some N credits.

This forum has a lot of good information on min-till/no-till techniques and soil health. I spent a number of years doing more harm than good to my soil. One more consideration. When you eliminate fertilizer, you eliminate a lot of cost and save time. These resources can be applied to planting more acreage at lower density as well as other habitat improvements depending on your specific situation.

Thanks,

Jack

Thanks for the great advice.....we are going to be primarily no tilling. Can you point me the the direction of the Crimson n Camo thread? thx!

 

[omicron1792]

Thanks for the great advice.....we are going to be primarily no tilling. Can you point me the the direction of the Crimson n Camo thread? thx!

The Throw n’ Mow Method

I’ve always heard that the best way to get over a girl is to get under another one. I guess we’ll use that same logic concerning forums that kick you to the curb as well. Welcome to “The Throw n’ Mow Method”……..This thread will continue to document a new planting technique that several of us...

habitat-talk.com

This thread has helped a ton of us here.

 

[bigboreblr]

Soil test advise based on crops. Like said, the nutrients are removed by harvesting. Nitrogen you can make, phosphorus and potassium take longer to recover by deep rooting.

What was there before? What is nearby far as weeds, they may wander back in. A good start is weed control. Fertilizer is fuel to the weed fire.

Cow peas and hemp should suppress some weed activity.

Deer dont care if there's weeds in there, they enjoy a good number of them. Certain sedges and grasses can be a problem. I'd your weeds before attacking them. Certain grasses and sedges can be controlled while using legumes, not sure where hemp runs in here.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks for the great advice.....we are going to be primarily no tilling. Can you point me the the direction of the Crimson n Camo thread? thx!

It is the thread Omicron provided the link to. If you have never tilled the soil and plan to go the no-till/min-till direction, I would completely skip the fertilizer. I'd focus on a good mix of complementary crops that have low fertility requirements. Don't focus on yield. Plant at a density that your soil can support without the commercial fertilizer. Many folks plant food plots at too high of a density. Unless you have a problem with a specific noxious weed, I'd become weed tolerant and leave room for weeds in my plots. Farmers consider any plant they they did not plant a weed as it takes resources from their cash crop reducing yield and working against their objective. For a deer managers, many of the plants that grow natively, that a farmer would consider a weed, are good deer food. Others help with soil health in other ways. When you have one or two noxious weeds that dominate a plot, you have a problem to deal with. When you have a broad mix of weeds in a food plot it can be a very healthy thing.

There are generally two different objectives for food plots and some fall in between, Feeding deer as part of QDM, and attracting deer to influence their movements for hunting. QDM requires scale. With that objective, planting at a lower intensity across more acreage is a good approach because it helps preserve soil health. Plots for attraction can be done on small properties. Tiny plots with ice cream plots can get wiped out quickly by few deer. Some folks think the answer is higher intensity farming to increase yield. While that may work in the short-term, it is not sustainable in the long-run in most cases. I think a better approach is to select less highly attractive crops that can better withstand browsing pressure.

Best of luck,

Jack