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Fontanelle, IA | Rusty- stock talk has always been pretty direct and probably the most direct of any of the sections. And, sometimes, in the heat of “stuff” we can all be sarcastic and snippy too. I’m guilty big time.
Since you asked and are concerned and have a longer term lease solidified, you do have a lot more flexibility than maybe you realize. I would soil sample a few zones just to see what they test. I’d pass those tests on to the landlord for reference only. Priority of fertilizer in my mind is 1. Nitrogen 2. Sulfur 3. Lime/pH 4. P+K. Maybe composted chicken litter is a fertilizer source close by. Your sample will give you an idea of how “hard/mined” or “Managed/maintained” it was in crop production. Or, let’s face it, there are pastures that have been “emergency hayed” at various point of their pasture life that have had nothing “replaced”.
Keep in mind (and all of us contributing “advice” need to consider) there are some pretty major differences in soil classes and textures in terms of how “efficient” they are at Enabling a grass specie to utilize the available and applied fertility to grass production - which is no different than similar corn nitrogen use efficiency across different soil types and management systems across the entire N-S/E-W cornbelt. Natural Internal drainage is huge. Rainfall is big also.
I’m focusing this year on rest. From the sounds of it, you’ve got a great mix of high producing improved grass and legume species that you are working with. They respond to “throwing the coals” - manage them with lots of rest through rotation intervals like a hay field and you’ll realize you have only 1/2 the cows you need….
Best of luck in your process. More than happy to help as I’ve been big time helped by other Stocktalkers in the past. | |
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Fertilizing Rented Pasture
