How important is FERT to you?

[MarkDarvin]

I haven't settled on a fertilizer mindset yet. On soil testing, I test everything. I've found most spots are the same, but also stumbled on one that was dramatically different. All the rage today is balance in base saturation in your soils. Those tests cost more money, but I think they're worth it. I pay $30/test, but I'll operate off that info for three seasons ($10/yr).

So right now, I'm shooting for Ca/Mg/K balance in my soil. That means pushing the K hard, and getting the right kind of lime. Beyond that, the other thing I've been buying a lot lately is gypsum. My clover looked fantastic last year after having received, P, K, and lime. I know i'm deficient in sulfur, so that's why the gypsum. I cut my best spot in half to see if there is a difference.

In the end, I'd rather get big production out of the space I have than try to open up more space. Going forward, I'm working on adding more and more species to my plot blend to mine the subsoil and try to bring some goodies back up to the surface. The other thing I don't have a grasp on yet is how much fertility actually leaves the plot. Some of them get grazed off pretty hard, but the deer leave a generous tip on the table in the form of manure.

 

[Mennoniteman]

if 0-1-3 wood ash is right - maybe good for small gardens - but I couldn't make or get enough ash for field applications.

When I clear a field of trees for a new food plot I burn the brush and trees in the middle of the field just for the benefits of the ash.

 

[Jason Broom]

...
So right now, I'm shooting for Ca/Mg/K balance in my soil. That means pushing the K hard, and getting the right kind of lime. Beyond that, the other thing I've been buying a lot lately is gypsum. My clover looked fantastic last year after having received, P, K, and lime. I know i'm deficient in sulfur, so that's why the gypsum. I cut my best spot in half to see if there is a difference.

In the end, I'd rather get big production out of the space I have than try to open up more space. Going forward, I'm working on adding more and more species to my plot blend to mine the subsoil and try to bring some goodies back up to the surface. The other thing I don't have a grasp on yet is how much fertility actually leaves the plot. Some of them get grazed off pretty hard, but the deer leave a generous tip on the table in the form of manure.

Check out the section in bold...here's a guy who gets it.

I only test soils every other year, or so. I agree that we're just growing plots for wildlife, not farmers trying to achieve some sort of margin based on yield. I would note that some of the guys who don't soil test are in locations with exceptional soils to begin with; if you don't have that advantage, a $15 to $30 soil test really saves you money, because you put down what your soil needs.

I also feel very strongly that amending properly and building up your soil is a worthwhile endeavor, in and of itself. If the deer and other critters benefit, that's wonderful, but what could be more noble than improving the very dirt of which your property is composed? There's rarely a bad reason for doing the right thing, especially when we're talking about our hunting land. Spending the money for a soil test, and then for the right lime and fertilizers to improve that soil, is definitely money well-spent. It's rarely more than a couple hundred dollars per acre and it's certainly worth that much, isn't it?

 

[OkieKubota]

if 0-1-3 wood ash is right - maybe good for small gardens - but I couldn't make or get enough ash for field applications.

I burn dozer piles so lots of ash to be had there...dramatic difference in stuff growing where I have burned and where I have not...

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Down here in the south where we have high deer numbers, poor sandy soil, and mostly small food plots…..I think its pretty important to fertilize and balance the soil properly. Being a blood tracker with my dogs, I get to go to a lot of properties and see a lot of food plots. Most of the ones I see are struggling bad to keep up with browsing pressure and the cereal grains in them really aren’t that productive. Its very common in Dec/Jan to see lots of fields that are turning yellow, purple, and red at the very time when our rut is kicking in and you want the field flourishing. Many fields are in such poor shape that they don’t even produce a seed head on their grains in the spring. Many folks don’t even notice though. They just till the field up and do it again the next year.

 

[Charlieyca]

I think a lot of it depends on your goals as well as the obvious, money. When I began looking at food plots for deer, I looked at which plants were good for the soil and put something back instead of being all take. Second, I looked at which plants grew on a wide variety of soils (pH, moisture, slope). These 2 things limit how much extra I am spending on lime and fert because we all know that is where the real cost is! I spent 2x as much on fertilizer my first year as I did seed! This fall I hope to have 1/2 of that. My plots do not get hammered so a large amount of their nutrients gets returned to the soil. If your plots feed deer, they remove those nutrients and the soil must get them back from somewhere.
My goals are to eventually only be fertilizing and maintaining my clover and trees!

 

[dogghr]

You guys need quit spending good money on soil tests. Go to your county agent, get the little bags they provide and get your tax paid soil tests for free. Do so every 2-3 years is plenty. Even if you don't need them to treat the soil, it is interesting to follow any changes. And if you do proper plot rotations, i.e. Lickcreek method, then most your ph and soil needs will take care of themselves once a baseline is achieved, and money and time saved.

 

[Baker]

I haven't used synthetic fertilizer on my farm in years. I have used lime as required.Last year I used chicken litter on my primary plots with great success. I have been 2 season cover cropping many of my fields for several years now with observable improvements in soil fertility and structure. I usually use 4-6 different seed combo's in the fields at a time.

My farms characterized by poor, acidic loamy clay mostly. I am negotiating to buy a used cotton gin trash spreader and if so I have access to essentially unlimited supplies of the compost. I'll spread it everywhere. May also explore mixing chicken litter in with the trash. If I can get the spreader new worlds open up. What I know is the nutritional plane on my farm is abundantly rich to grow quality deer.

 

[OkieKubota]

Can you tell where I burned brushpile in this photo?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DocHolladay]

You guys need quit spending good money on soil tests. Go to your county agent, get the little bags they provide and get your tax paid soil tests for free.

My county agent charges $7 for soil tests. They will give you as many bags as you need and the probe to pull samples with if you want for no charge.

 

[FarmerD]

For me, the soil test tells me how poor my red clay soil is. It tells me how many tons/acre of lime, I need to apply. A proper soil ph, just makes so many more nutrients that are currently in the soil, available to whatever you plant. Lime is "my" top priority and is more important to me, than fertilizer.

I usually cut the fertilizer recommendations, for food plots, in 1/2 and I will always have at least an annual clover in my plots, to give me "some" free nitrogen. Nitrogen is the building block for proteins, which is what I want to get into the herd.

 

[FarmerD]

Oh, and with a deer/critter population, visiting my plots, regularly, they "leave" a little fertilizer there too ... and thus, the cycle continues.

 

[Baker]

Farmer D, Clover and nitrogen. Precisely why I drilled sunflowers into this thatch of dying crimson. As you said, I include a legume in every mix.