How important is FERT to you?

buckhunter10

Well-Known Member
How many of you fertilize on your plots to exactly what your soil test says?
Do any of you just do a little to help them?
Anyone not fertilize?

Reason I ask is in order to do my plots every year, with recommended FERT I could spend a lot of money. Now my soil ph, OM levels and everything have continued to improve. However, I just struggle to justify spending a ton on fertilizer every year, just for deer plots.

***I understand that the more nutrients in the soil, the more nutrients in the plant, the more nutrients to your deer.

Anyone else feel this way? How do you handle fertilizing? Liquid? Natural? ETC?
 
Here go's...I am the poster boy for what not to do...

I have never done a soil test...ever...
I doze plots out of the rockiest patches of woods you can find and everyone knows that woods dirt is the worst...especially full of rock...
I throw clover and WR grain down in these dozed plots in the spring...Once germination happens and a rain is coming I spread 200 lbs triple 19...
When pellet lime go's on sale at tractor supply in August I buy as much as the store has on supply at $3 a bag...usually 30 bags or so and spread it over area for fall plots and then I run my spring tooth chisel plow over it and then my disk. after lime is down I add 200 more lbs of triple 19 mixed with all my fall seeds and spread it all with my 3 point cone spreader and drag.

In early spring I just use my cone spreader and spread 100 lbs of 5-24-24 over my established clover plots from the year before...

Been doing this for years and only time I ever have issues is a year without rain...if it rains everything works out perfectly.

I plant WR,WW, Radishes, PTT, White, Crimson, and Red clover...If I did soybeans or corn I am sure I would have to do a bunch of stuff different...

Al together I probably have 6 acres of plots over 2 different properties including my backyard on the hollow. By far my best plots are made out of rocky woods and my "tillable" open ground makes the worst plots due to grass and weed competition...

I probably spend $300 a year in lime and fertilizer and I can tell a difference in areas with it and without it...
 
Depends on what I'm planting. Corn? Absolutely follow the soil test recommendations. Winter LC grain mix plus clover? Don't usually fertilize.

I will say that it is very apparent which fields were fertilized and which weren't. Fertilizer is worth the money to me, but by switching to no till and not harvesting any of my 20 acres of tillable ground I'm hoping to minimize fertilizer requirements in the future.
 
I wing it. Plain and simple. I toss whatever I have around on clover plots, summer annuals get 100 lbs per acre of a balanced fertilizer. Corn plots get an additional 100 lb dose of N per acre. No soil test, but my plots are in former ag fields. I tend to not have specific fall annual plots - they get broadcast over my summer annuals normally.

To be honest - I probably should do a soil test, but I just seem to never get around to it.
 
If you really want something to take off plant it where you have burned a bunch of brush and have a bunch of ash. I have done this with tree seedlings and seed and it is amazing how well stuff grows in ash...
 
You could always do a comparison... like same plot but only fertilize half. I can say from my own plots that ones that had the recommended fert levels looked a lot better and lasted longer than ones that I ran short on fertilizer and only used half recommended amount.

Another idea if you have big plots (3+ acres) is only plant an acre worth of what you really want and surround the rest with oats/wheat/etc or if ph high enough run like clover/chicory something that will improve soil. The oats/wheat makes a neat screen too.

I know that now that I am starting to venture into doing plots for other people that when a guy calls with a 5 acre + plot that he is going to get major sticker shock when you want to do it right. Lately its been bow hunters which I don't understand the need to have more than a 1 acre plot, I like several kill plots (100x100 or smaller) personally, way less cost involved. I usually just figure out their budget and try to work with what they got...usually 1 acre max. Had a guy (100miles away on way) that wanted to pay $40 per acre to till and then he would pay an extra $40 per acre to lime (oh I had to supply lime)... thought it was pretty funny.
 
Okie is right about planting in a burned area. Organic garden people use ashes from fire in the soil to help as well. So time to start having the buddies come over with the refreshments and have some big fires buckhunter
 
If you really want something to take off plant it where you have burned a bunch of brush and have a bunch of ash. I have done this with tree seedlings and seed and it is amazing how well stuff grows in ash...
I believe that ash is a soil neutralizer but it takes a lot of it. I wonder if your experience would parallel those using bio char. There are some amazing claims out there concerning bio char. I've been doing some research on it for my garden but still have much to learn.
 
I spend the $ on fertilizer every year and find it pays for brassicas, corn/beans. For clover plots and LC grain mix, I'll fertilize if I have any left over (I shoot for a couple hundred lbs of 6-24-24 per acre). I don't soil test every year---so am winging it a bit. For corn/brassicas, I'm throwing down 300lbs of both urea and 6-24-24. I can't imagine starting new plots without pulling a soil sample. Most of our plots had a ph in the high 4s when we started with very low nutrients.
 
I have a love hate relationship with fertilizer. I have a hate relationship with recommendations made by she soil testing labs. To their defense they do it based on assumptions which they readily supply, but who reads them? Fertilizer? Corn vs clover? Rye vs soybeans? How important is yield? For a food plot I have no answer. Good nutrition is critical for healthy growth which keeps weeds in check. But, fertilizer is an expensive option for that task. I'm rambling....
And I continue....If my soil test tells me my levels are medium, high, or very high, I probably won't fertilize. If the trend is down medium +, to medium - or low or very low then its time to break open my wallet. But, it rarely happens for me. it's not like we harvest a huge crop and haul it away!

So, pH is more important to me than high nutrient levels.

Frankly, while we are getting everything out in the open (hahah) I'm astounded by the apparent amount of fertilizer used on food plots. But, then, if it makes you feel good and you have the $$$'s to do it, go for it!

My thought about fertilizer and production agriculture are totally opposite! If a dollars worth of fertilizer generates me $2 of revenue let's do it!!
 
Just depends on my mood. I just dropped 0-20-20 plus boron/borax on my alfalfa/clover/chicory plot and my clover/ chicory plot today before rain. Main purpose really was to get boron on the alfalfa. But no doubt, when I hit my clovers and alfalfa they perform better than years I don't. Some years I split it spring and fall, and others, just the spring. Per my soil tests, I don't need anything but the boron, but just like my yard, the plots just do better with a little vitamin boost, same as me. But I only have 4 ac of plot, so cost not much a factor. Brassicas, I'm doing rotations and don't feel the need to do much except Urea with them. So basically, if I have the time, I spread fert, but loose no sleep if I don't.
 
I'm surprised how many don't do soil testing. For a long time it was just to much bother, but finally did it. Big surprise, I wasn't low on lime like I thought, I was way low on magnesium which is uncommon. For $15 a field you can know the truth and get more bang for your dollar. I usually put on half what the soil ppl call for and that's been working well.
 
I don't soil test every year- but I do it often enough - I cannot afford to bring everything to a neutral PH with Lime, so I rotate my corn - because I do fertilize that with at least 100 lbs N and decent amounts of P. Fertilizing can make your soil more acidic, so I like to use clovers to help me rebuild after corn and brassica especially. They are a good indicator if things are getting too acidic as well. I plant Soybeans 4:1 over corn and I do not usually fertilize them. I never fertilize clovers or Rye/oats. Brassicas get Urea from me.
 
Boy am I happy to hear I am not alone.

1. I have a ton of ash. I have 4 fireplaces in my home and 1 at the farm. I save all my ash and I do plan on spreading it. However, I thought Ash worked as lime? My PHs are perfect I spent a large sum of money a year ago to add a TON of lime to my plots. I put down about 8tons of lime with a shovel and PTO spreader - not my PH is good to go.

2. The reason I asked is if I wanted to get some 6-24-24 and put a couple hundred lbs I could probably plant my acres of beans for fairly low costs. However, if I wanted to get a custom mix from the seed mill, of say 0-X-X it was gunna cost me like $500. I just don't see the need for that since I am not harvesting the crop.

3. I always dream of buying more land. If I do buy more land and more plots, the money I spend to buy more land will surely make things a bit tight. I would most likely stick to more clovers and grain specific plots vs. beans/brassica rotation that I tend to do now.
 
I have never tested soil. When i first put in the foodplots, i dumped a couple hundred pounds of lime down. I only buy fertilizer when its on the discount rack, usually late fall. Just store it until needed. I do splurge on a few bags of 6-24-24 for the clover plots. All by hand, no tractor. Plots are about 1.5 acres and lush! Deer in them daily, but the cant keep it down. Thought about adding another acre, but seems to b feeding the herd just fine. Mature does we shoot are massive, routinely dress out at 145 lbs. I figure i'm getting 90% of the results for 50% of the costs. Im fine with that...
 
No complaints from this guy.
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I try to hit plot at planting but never go overboard. I think we all would get the most benefit from light triple whatever at planting and then nitrogen once well established and just ahead of rain. But then I am the southern version of okie poster boy of what not to do.
 
I hate to say it, I've never done a soil test and never added fertilizer to my plots. Are my plots great? Sometimes. I find that rain in the only X factor for me.
 
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.
 
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