‘Free Aluminum’ Could Be Costing You Thousands of Dollars In Yield and Quality

[dgallow]

Several years back we explored the issue of poor plot production and 'pseudo early drought' on part of a food plot. At depths of >4" in more the soil had a mottled gray/red/yellow color, no roots grew there, pH was below 5, and soil aluminum levels exceeded 500 ppm. Had we not tested for aluminum levels, we could not be positive. Thus the problem was poor internal drainage and aluminum toxicity. To accelerate soil regeneration, pellet gypsum (rate = 30 lbs x 40" average annual rainfall = 1200 lb/ac rate) was spread in ADDITION to several prior applications of high calcium ag limestone. In the 6-12 months following gypsum application, mixed specie fall and spring crops produced incredible tonnage....and continue to do so today unless we have above average rainfall which prohibits planting that part of the field. Here are a few plants which seem to do well immediately after remediation: cereal rye, crimson clover, hairy vetch on the cool season side.......Japanese millet, pearl millet, Egyptian wheat, buckwheat, sunflower, and cow pea on the warm season side. Any native plants common to that site are also encouraged....especially grasses (barnyard grass) which contribute to improved soil tilth, aggregate stability and deepening the root zone on moist soils. Soybean will struggle until soil conditions improve with time (very sensitive to aluminum).


http://onpasture.com/2017/05/08/fre...ou-thousands-of-dollars-in-yield-and-quality/

 

[Native Hunter]

Doug, could NWSGs such as Big Bluestem or Switch be able to establish in a place like that and possibly be able to break the hardpan to some extent with their deep roots?

 

[dgallow]

In the native unit, I see different 'wet footed' perennial grasses in the wet areas. Alamo switch and eastern gamma like bottomlands but how long they can tolerate wet feet I am unsure.....I know they are used for erosion control in riparian zones. Walt Davis is south of me on the Red River....he has wrote about flooding and inundation of his grasslands....grasses recover from seed on healthy soil in about 60 days after water receeds....much longer on unhealthy soil....I interpret that to mean extended inundation nukes most everything.. In a long about way, the annuals and some of the 'wet footed perennials' will have to condition the poor soil before higher seral NWSG colonize. I'm going to post some about that stuff if I have time this week.