Fertilizer timing

[breddick]

How important is the timing of fertilizer? Earlier this year I bought a no till drill and am trying to do all my planting with the drill for all the reasons many like the method. Right now I have a few acres of soybeans but the majority of my plot ground is just dead grass / weeds at the moment. I’ve sprayed it all multiple times this summer and pretty much have brown plots.

Getting geared up for fall planting and I know I’ll need fertilizer. I’ve soul tested before but not in the past year. Ph is acceptable.

My intent is to sling out about 200-300lbs / acre 13-13-13. Is it too early to do this if I won’t be planting for another month? It’s not going to be tilled into the ground at all. I know I can lose some of the nitrogen if weather isn’t right.

Im going to be planting 5+ acres so I typically get bulk in a buggy from the co-op. Would I be better off getting my P and K bulk and doing it now and then do urea from my 4 wheeler spreader at time of planting (times with rain)? With the acreage I have I really would prefer to not do it all from the 4 wheeler. That’s a lot of bags and the bulk is cheaper by far.

 

[goatman]

P and K can be anytime. The soil banks it up. What are you needing nitrogen for? You can always do stabilized nitrogen.

 

[breddick]

Planting mostly brassicas. Turnips / Radishes. Most will be Tall Tine Tubers from Whitetail institute. I’ve had really good luck with these in the past

 

[yoderjac]

They typically don't soil test for N. The N recommendation typically comes from the general needs of the crop you specify that you are going to plant. More sophisticated labs will ask about your soil type, what crop your previously planted, and what yield you got. They probably have a slightly better estimate of N requirements as they are applying some banked N credits.

Keep in mind that soil tests are for farmers who harvest crops, not for food plotters. They are a good place to start when you are learning. You will likely spend more and use more fertilizer than you need, especially if you are applying no-till or min-till techniques. Food plotting is more like managing pasture in some ways. The "harvest" is made by animals that defecate back into the field cycling the nutrients. As long as we don't introduce oxygen back into the soil through tillage to consume OM at a high rate and choose our crop mix and/or rotation wisely, we don't lose nutrition like a farmer harvesting crops.

We also don't need the yield that a commercial farmer needs. Lower yield reduces the bottom line for a farmer. That is not true for a food plot. Deer are browsers, not grazers. If there is crop left in the field, there was more than deer used and what is left just goes back into the soil. If the field is eaten to dirt, you have a bigger problem than increased yield can solve.

I have never intentionally added N fertilizer to my fields. I have used DAP to achieve P requirements which does have a small percentage of N in it but that is it. Most of my N comes from mixing or rotating legumes. After moving to no-till/min-till for a number of years, I've stopped fertilizing all together. I have seen no negative impact on deer use of my crops or on body weights and I'm on poor soil. I still soil test every few years, and if I begin to see negative effects, I can always fertilize some year. I will say that the money I spent on fertilizer has benefited deer much more when spent on other habitat projects.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I would do the p and K now, then add N once it is 3-6 inches tall. I can tell you for fact about a week after I fertilize, the deer hit my plots and don’t leave. I assume it not only makes the crops grow faster, but must add some good taste to it as well.

 

[yoderjac]

I would do the p and K now, then add N once it is 3-6 inches tall. I can tell you for fact about a week after I fertilize, the deer hit my plots and don’t leave. I assume it not only makes the crops grow faster, but must add some good taste to it as well.

You are right, fertilizing most things including weeds makes them more attractive to deer if that is your objective. If I fertilize half a field and don't fertilize the other half, deer will eat the fertilized half first...and then they eat the other half. So for me, fertilizer is a high cost with a marginal benefit.

I sort of look at things this way. My dirt is the limiting factor for my herd. I want to improve m dirt in a sustainable way that does not immediately revert when I stop. IF I improve the nutrient cycling and CEC in the underlying soil, whether it is the crops I plant or native foods that take over when I stop planting, they will sustain my herd and change slowly over time. I see fertilizer as a temporary fix to allow me the time necessary to allow the underlying soil to repair.

I'm certainly not suggesting folks don't fertilize as needed. I just see the need as significantly less than for harvesting farmers for which soil tests were designed and dropping further as natural nutrient cycling ability of the soil builds. No fertilizer is my long-term goal, but I'm sure I'll need some from time to time, but so far, so good.

 

[Bill]

Ed Spinizzola always recommended fertilizing the plot right at your stand. I never have, but it makes sense.

 

[breddick]

Great stuff guys! I definitely need to build up the soil as much as possible. Being new to no till all of my previous plots suffered from the traditional method of heavy tillage spring and fall. This spring when I decided to “reclaim” a lot more ground for plots it was comprised of mostly a fields. Hey fields that had been harvested 2-3x / year and very minimally fertilized over the years. Therefor the soil is pretty deplete.

I’ll explore some of the other threads on what to plant but I’d like to get as much biomass as possible growing this fall.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Jack, while I do add fertilizer every year, it is more to sustain it, rather then to build it. My soil is sandy loom, and when it is a normal to wet year, stuff grows well decent, but without N bulbs will never get over 1 inch. On the other hand, while adding fertilizer will make them grow bigger, the problem is the deer mow it to the ground after I fertilize and it sets them back and sometime I dont get anything bigger then 1-2 inches either.

But I am only talking 3 3/4 acre plots, so the extra money spent on fertilizer doesnt break the bank.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I haven't pulled a soil sample in a number of years and I plan on doing it next spring on my "Diversity" plot. I like the idea of letting my cover crops mine the resources and pass them along to the next crop. I do add urea from time to time depending on when i plant my fall crops and rain. If I get them in late or we go through a prolonged dry spell i'll add a couple 5 gallon buckets of urea to the plots.

 

[yoderjac]

Jack, while I do add fertilizer every year, it is more to sustain it, rather then to build it. My soil is sandy loom, and when it is a normal to wet year, stuff grows well decent, but without N bulbs will never get over 1 inch. On the other hand, while adding fertilizer will make them grow bigger, the problem is the deer mow it to the ground after I fertilize and it sets them back and sometime I dont get anything bigger then 1-2 inches either.

But I am only talking 3 3/4 acre plots, so the extra money spent on fertilizer doesnt break the bank.

I think it is much harder with sandy soils. Building OM will help, but nutrients move through sandy soil much faster than clay. In my experience, bulb size is largely determined by planting date. The early I plant PTT, the larger the bulbs. If I wait until Sep when I prefer to plant WR, I get small bulbs. If I broadcast it in early August I get large bulbs. I'm sure there are other factors, but I don't have highly fertile soil and turnips do well. I also keep the turnip component in my mixes down around 2 lbs/ac.