rented silage ground .what fertiliser

john p mc g

I got silage ground that I've rented soil tested and its ph is 4.9 p is index 1 k is index 2 .it got slurrry around a month ago would anyone be able to tell me the best fertiliser to put out on it .thanks

1chippy

If it was me i would go with granular lime to bring up the ph as i presume you only have it a short time. pig slurry would be a good option to work on the p and k other wise you wont go too far wrong with 18 6 12

mahoney_j

2 or 3 bags /acre of gran lime and 3.5 bags to the acre of pasture sward

john p mc g

Is granlime different than groundlime where your supposed to leave 3-6months between applications I can spread fert and lime all the one day

bbam

They don't recommend spreading lime and fertiliser together.
I did it last year and it didn't seem any harm though.

Farmer Pudsey

You can spread Granline or G-Lime with fertilizer it is ordinary ground lime that you have to wait a while with. a bag to a bag and a half would be adequate as you only want to improve the PH for six months you do not need to improve long term if renting. Ideally if you could soil test these take about 10 days to come back at this time of year this is a bit tight.

If you have access to cheap slurry 4K gallons an acre and a bag and a quarter of urea if cutting around June first. If using urea make sure that either the ground is damp or light rain is forecast within 48 hours.

Other than that as per Goulding's chart
http://www.gouldings.ie/advice/silage/

neutralvu

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You can spread Granline or G-Lime with fertilizer it is ordinary ground lime that you have to wait a while with. a bag to a bag and a half would be adequate as you only want to improve the PH for six months you do not need to improve long term if renting. Ideally if you could soil test these take about 10 days to come back at this time of year this is a bit tight.

If you have access to cheap slurry 4K gallons an acre and a bag and a quarter of urea if cutting around June first. If using urea make sure that either the ground is damp or light rain is forecast within 48 hours.

Other than that as per Goulding's chart
http://www.gouldings.ie/advice/silage/

granlime or Physiolith? can u spread the fertilizer and lime together in a normal spreader or do u need a wagtail? whens the best time to spread it? early April??

Farmer Pudsey

neutralvu wrote: »

granlime or Physiolith? can u spread the fertilizer and lime together in a normal spreader or do u need a wagtail? whens the best time to spread it? early April??

You can spread at any stage. However March-May is best to get full value for year. It spreads heavier than 10-10-20 so you really need to set spreader low. I thing it is at 1/2 a bag of urea/acre is my setting for 1 bag of lime/acre.

neutralvu

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

You can spread at any stage. However March-May is best to get full value for year. It spreads heavier than 10-10-20 so you really need to set spreader low. I thing it is at 1/2 a bag of urea/acre is my setting for 1 bag of lime/acre.

very good. u might be able to tell me another thing. The preferred time to spread slurry on silage ground? I usually fire it out in April but ive researched that the earlier the better like start of March but surly it would be too cold for it then?

Farmer Pudsey

neutralvu wrote: »

very good. u might be able to tell me another thing. The preferred time to spread slurry on silage ground? I usually fire it out in April but ive researched that the earlier the better like start of March but surly it would be too cold for it then?

I never close silage ground until April. It usually has a cover of grass on it in early March. I graze that off in late March and after than I spread the slurry. However depending on weather your nitrogen recovery rate from slurry can IMO be anything from 5-20 units of N/1000 gallons. On a damp misty day that you can just about spread in you will be at the higher end. On a dry windy day you may be even below 5 units. Being able to judge this is very important as I spread 3-4K gallons on slurry ground and if you apply too much bag ( usually urea) you can end up with rank silage.

I see a lot of farmers that are afraid to go beyond 2K/acre and usually the reason is that too much slurry sours the silage. The issue is taht they put too much Artifical N on when conditions are right for slurry.

neutralvu

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I never close silage ground until April. It usually has a cover of grass on it in early March. I graze that off in late March and after than I spread the slurry. However depending on weather your nitrogen recovery rate from slurry can IMO be anything from 5-20 units of N/1000 gallons. On a damp misty day that you can just about spread in you will be at the higher end. On a dry windy day you may be even below 5 units. Being able to judge this is very important as I spread 3-4K gallons on slurry ground and if you apply too much bag ( usually urea) you can end up with rank silage.

I see a lot of farmers that are afraid to go beyond 2K/acre and usually the reason is that too much slurry sours the silage. The issue is taht they put too much Artifical N on when conditions are right for slurry.

So to sum up u are saying that if u are cute enough to nail the slurry at the correct moment in time then this reduces ur fertilizer/urea output because the slurry will account for the N required. U say 5 to 20 units, is it 80 units max? so about 20 units of N from slurry and 60 from urea give or take depending on weather?

Farmer Pudsey

neutralvu wrote: »

So to sum up u are saying that if u are cute enough to nail the slurry at the correct moment in time then this reduces ur fertilizer/urea output because the slurry will account for the N required. U say 5 to 20 units, is it 80 units max? so about 20 units of N from slurry and 60 from urea give or take depending on weather?

IMO you can get as much as 20 units of N/1K gallons. I think 15 is very doable if conditions are right. A little light rain or mist as or after spreading. If you manage 15/1K gallonds and spread 4/acre that is 60 units, you then only need a bag of urea/acre to make up balance. Or 45 units at 3K/Acre and 1.3-1.5/bags urea/acre.

However I never spread urea until about 3 weeks after slurry is spread. This reduces the risk of fertlizer wastage if you get heavy rain after slurry is spread.

neutralvu

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

IMO you can get as much as 20 units of N/1K gallons. I think 15 is very doable if conditions are right. A little light rain or mist as or after spreading. If you manage 15/1K gallonds and spread 4/acre that is 60 units, you then only need a bag of urea/acre to make up balance. Or 45 units at 3K/Acre and 1.3-1.5/bags urea/acre.

However I never spread urea until about 3 weeks after slurry is spread. This reduces the risk of fertlizer wastage if you get heavy rain after slurry is spread.

Ah yes sir i get u now. To bring it back then to the original point then would you mix in the gran lime in with the urea when spreading 3 weeks later?

Farmer Pudsey

neutralvu wrote: »

Ah yes sir i get u now. To bring it back then to the original point then would you mix in the gran lime in with the urea when spreading 3 weeks later?

Would be slow to use granlime on heavy grass in case any came in. Generally spread after silage but My ph is right on my silage ground and i only need to maintain it