Good soil?

[pinetag]

So as I prepared to hike in the woods for my afternoon sit, I thought I'd dig down in the hay field a bit to see what the soil looks like. What do you guys think? I know soil test will give the true results but just looking at it, appears there is lots of OM and good moisture retention. Hopefully this place will be mine in a couple months and I can do what I want with it. Soil test, food plots, hinge cuts, etc.

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[catscratch]

My experience is that hay fields tend to have good soil I think the functional ecosystem works from the ground up (deep in the ground). It's when we start to change that ecosystem, harvest and remove nutrients, till, and compact things, is when everything goes haywire.
Without a soil test there is no way of knowing for sure if it's great soil or not, but it "looks" good to me.

 

[Doe Shooter]

All one has to do to see how nature goes about building fertile soil is to walk into the woods and carefully pull back the leaves and layers underneath. Fertile soil is built from the top down in a rich micro biological stew. Incorporating organic matter into the sub soil is good ,but has to constantly replenished as it is rapidly consumed . Left on top slows the process down as nature intended. No till drill culture takes a few years to begin to reap the benefits of the change in culture. Strip tillage has it's proponents also. One can plow every fall and plant in the spring into a biological desert and with the aid of chemicals and fertilizer raise a very profitable crop for a while. The ag community is at the fore front a cultural shift in sustainable methods and erosion control that was absent 50 years ago (also dust bowl years).Commitment to being a good steward is a good start. You are asking the right questions. I applaud your desire to do the right thing.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Two things needed to grow row crops; Soil type is important, which you can usually find on the county soils maps. Slope of the field is very important, ag fields need to be relatively flat for tillage farming, there's fields with a pretty good slope that are permanent hay fields, beware to the new owner that goes and tills those fields, massive erosion will follow. If the above two items are good, the current state of nutrients isn't very important, they can easily be improved, although there is some cost associated with that. The pictures do look like good dirt for food plots.

 

[pinetag]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really hope to purchase this property in the next couple months where I can do a true soil test. After reading through multiple throw and mow threads and seeing some of the results people are getting, I am leaning toward that method to maintain as much OM as possible.

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[farmhunter]

Looks like a light soil compared to what I'm used to - maybe some sand?

 

[Mennoniteman]

Throw and mow is a great option for food plot guys, because it saves time, fuel and money, by not needing to own as much equipment. However, no self-respecting farmer ever uses that system (except for overseeding, such as clover and rye) and there's reasons for that. Throw and mow when working seems like a miracle. But when conditions aren't right you'll have slow starting crops, poor stands, or total failures, and farmers want more reliability than that, hence the notill drill. Since you've been studying it I'm sure you're getting very familiar with the pros and cons of it, such as the need to seed a little heavier and ripping up a little dirt with tillage tool can really help to get new seed established. Good luck with your land purchase.

 

[Baker]

Is this farm in Va.? I see your location is there. My sister lives in the Hebron Valley which is not only beautiful but quite fertile farm country as well. I love visiting there.

 

[pinetag]

Is this farm in Va.? I see your location is there. My sister lives in the Hebron Valley which is not only beautiful but quite fertile farm country as well. I love visiting there.

It's in central VA.

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[Smallplot]

Hay fields are one of the places typically void of nutrient replacement, especially where grass hay was removed. Not necessarily the best as a pasture would likely have a healthier soil from a soil health standpoint.

Hay fields the OM is removed before it has the chance to become OM, yes there will be some but most will be removed for hay.




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[Jason Broom]

Why are you waiting until you buy the land to do a soil test? Many folks considering a land purchase will not buy without having a soil test result, first. Has the current landowner expressly forbid you from taking samples and having them tested?

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[pinetag]

Why are you waiting until you buy the land to do a soil test? Many folks considering a land purchase will not buy without having a soil test result, first. Has the current landowner expressly forbid you from taking samples and having them tested?

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I guess that's a good point. My wife's uncle is the landowner and he has not given me any "rules" prohibiting me from doing anything but I told him I was just going to hunt it. I could probably go ahead and get it done without any issue.

 

[j-bird]

I almost got way to carried away. Get your soil test from a few locations. Then if your really interested you can dig a hole and put some dirt in your hand and be able to get some additional info as well. I started to type how to do this and what it all means...but you may not care at this point. If you do care just ask and I can either type what I know or just do some digging on the internet about soil testing and judging......Future Farmers of America (FFA) have actual contests on how to look at dirt and determine what it means....so there is plenty of info out there. That was how I got exposed to it way back when......

 

[Jason Broom]

I guess that's a good point. My wife's uncle is the landowner and he has not given me any "rules" prohibiting me from doing anything but I told him I was just going to hunt it. I could probably go ahead and get it done without any issue.

He might be interested to see the result, and you'll have a good idea of what you're up against, if and when you buy the property.

 

[FarmerD]

This post will have no benefit, when family is involved in buying and selling farmland, but just something to think about. Our church owns farmland, which it leases to local farmers, of good stature. (Sure helps to pay the bills!) When a new farmer comes on board a complete soil test is done to the property before farming starts and then when he no longer leases the property. In the lease agreement, "he" is required to return the soil back to where he started, meaning adding lime, P & K, micro nutrients, etc.. Those can be significant numbers if he chooses to raise crops that pull nutrients out of the soil, but does not replace them.

As Smallplot noted above, a hay field (cut for hay and taken away) can leave the soil needing a lot of help and that all costs money. Soil tests are good things and you know where you start and can quickly figure out what co$t$ are involved in making it workable, in particular, since you're going to do the TnM method. How big is that hay field, or how many acres are you planning to turn in to food plots?

 

[j-bird]

This post will have no benefit, when family is involved in buying and selling farmland, but just something to think about. Our church owns farmland, which it leases to local farmers, of good stature. (Sure helps to pay the bills!) When a new farmer comes on board a complete soil test is done to the property before farming starts and then when he no longer leases the property. In the lease agreement, "he" is required to return the soil back to where he started, meaning adding lime, P & K, micro nutrients, etc.. Those can be significant numbers if he chooses to raise crops that pull nutrients out of the soil, but does not replace them.

As Smallplot noted above, a hay field (cut for hay and taken away) can leave the soil needing a lot of help and that all costs money. Soil tests are good things and you know where you start and can quickly figure out what co$t$ are involved in making it workable, in particular, since you're going to do the TnM method. How big is that hay field, or how many acres are you planning to turn in to food plots?

Just to add a comment here as D brings up a good point.....any of you guys cash renting ground to farmers (grain or pasture) may want to do this as well - actually put it in the contract that the soil test data will be collected at the beginning and end of each contract at a minimum and the soil amendments are the renters responsibility. This keeps a renter from destroying your soil and then leaving you or the next renter with the bill. I know I have this in my rent contacts just as a protection and it is checked annually.