soil test- interperate

[buckhunter10]

Ok this is not my first rodeo with soil tests. However, it is my first time getting tests that give me a CEC and OM reading. I spread the AG lime very heavy last year as my soil PH was around 5.5 on most fields. As you can see the PH is looking fantastic.

 

[buckhunter10]

I do use tillage but I try to not go over kill. I might till once a year. I also typically oversewed any crop I plant so I have green growing in plots most of the year.

My farm is in Appalachia and the soil CEC is showing pretty darn good for my region and the research I have done so far.

So anything else i can do to increase OM? Spread chicken litter? Any reason I should do that? IF these where your tests what would you do?

 

[MarkDarvin]

What have you been growing?

 

[X-farmerdan]

Here's the Readers Digest version of how I think of soil....It's a bucket full of everything you need to grow plants. Some of what's in the bucket you can affect. Other things not so much. For me, and many will argue the point, CEC and organic matter are factors I'm just going to accept. They tell a story about the productivity of your soil. Yes, CEC numbers change a little as you modify the soil chemistry and one can build organic matter over time.....and with lots of effort, but to what effect?
Applications of manure will add OM. Stopping all tillage will preserve the OM you have. Planting strategies involving root and plant mass are available to help build OM. But, do the math. The top 6-inches of soil weights a million pounds. What's one-percent? that's how much OM you need to add to get a boost.

I know you're proud of you pH. But, stop liming for a couple years. Too high isn't any better than too low.

Back to that bucket. There are some elements you can add that will stay in the bucket even if the plant does't use them. For food plots I like to keep P & K levels medium to medium high. A couple of your samples indicate deficiencies in one or the other.

Getting potassium levels up would be my highest priority. You have the soil to hold the K in the bucket.

 

[X-farmerdan]

Another thought. You mention chicken litter. If you have it readily available, use it! It can only help improve your already good organic matter content and it's full of potassium. I think, in your original post, why you would want to raise OM. Well, organic matter improves soil structure. Clay without some OM is a brick. Sand with OM is a beach. Organic matter is a sponge. It holds moisture. And, as it breaks down it supplies plant nutrients, especially nitrogen. Those great corn yield coming from the midwwest in places like Iowa and Illinois are places where the field organic matter is over ten feet deep, Glaciers did that. So, I'm back to the idea that, so far as OM is soncerned, you have what you have. Build where you can, but don't expect big jumps quickly.

 

[buckhunter10]

What have you been growing?

sorry for delay. I have been growing a lot of different things over the past 7 years.

1. Clover for a few years
2. then a brassica grain mix for a few
3. Then started doing beans, then overseeing with brassicas
4. This year I will do clover/chicory in two plots, I will oversewed with grains come fall
5. Stonehenge and big plot I will do half in beans, half in brassica mix.

I have had a pretty good rotation and keep the fields green as long as I am able.

 

[buckhunter10]

Here's the Readers Digest version of how I think of soil....It's a bucket full of everything you need to grow plants. Some of what's in the bucket you can affect. Other things not so much. For me, and many will argue the point, CEC and organic matter are factors I'm just going to accept. They tell a story about the productivity of your soil. Yes, CEC numbers change a little as you modify the soil chemistry and one can build organic matter over time.....and with lots of effort, but to what effect?
Applications of manure will add OM. Stopping all tillage will preserve the OM you have. Planting strategies involving root and plant mass are available to help build OM. But, do the math. The top 6-inches of soil weights a million pounds. What's one-percent? that's how much OM you need to add to get a boost.

I know you're proud of you pH. But, stop liming for a couple years. Too high isn't any better than too low.

Back to that bucket. There are some elements you can add that will stay in the bucket even if the plant does't use them. For food plots I like to keep P & K levels medium to medium high. A couple of your samples indicate deficiencies in one or the other.

Getting potassium levels up would be my highest priority. You have the soil to hold the K in the bucket.

Thank you! I am without a doubt not liming for a couple years. I was happy I was able to get the soil from 5.5 to where I was at but I am surprised it raised it so high as I followed the test as closely as possible for last year.

I think your analysis of OM and CEC is great. Basically it is good to keep an eye on it, but don't lose your mind over OM and CEC! That makes sense to me.

 

[buckhunter10]

Here's the Readers Digest version of how I think of soil....It's a bucket full of everything you need to grow plants. Some of what's in the bucket you can affect. Other things not so much. For me, and many will argue the point, CEC and organic matter are factors I'm just going to accept. They tell a story about the productivity of your soil. Yes, CEC numbers change a little as you modify the soil chemistry and one can build organic matter over time.....and with lots of effort, but to what effect?
Applications of manure will add OM. Stopping all tillage will preserve the OM you have. Planting strategies involving root and plant mass are available to help build OM. But, do the math. The top 6-inches of soil weights a million pounds. What's one-percent? that's how much OM you need to add to get a boost.

I know you're proud of you pH. But, stop liming for a couple years. Too high isn't any better than too low.

Back to that bucket. There are some elements you can add that will stay in the bucket even if the plant does't use them. For food plots I like to keep P & K levels medium to medium high. A couple of your samples indicate deficiencies in one or the other.

Getting potassium levels up would be my highest priority. You have the soil to hold the K in the bucket.

you mention raising P and K, what is the best way to go about this? Fert at time of planting? If I can find chicken litter, that seems like a good option, any other options that come to mind?

 

[X-farmerdan]

Most of us lean on commercial, chemical fertilizers. The timing of the application for P & K isn't all that critical. When you do apply you are making nutrients available in the future. "The future" is a slippery subject. it depends on a lot of things that are going on in you soil and with the type of soil as well. This year, lots of farmers skipped buying P & K for their crops because of low corn and soybean prices. How can they do that? They mine the soil. They are sucking out nutrients they applied last year and the year before when crop prices where high and they could afford to build soil levels. I should be quick to point out, this works when soil nutrient levels are high to very high. At medium it sorta' depends. With low soil nutrient levels, failing to fertilizer is usually a disaster.

One more comment. The, I will sit down. Chicken litter will build OM and potassium....and it will push your pH down, but it will do nothing for your P levels. Back to commercial fertilizers. Ideally you would have a local coop or commercial fertilizer blending facility close by. You tell them what you need in the way of plant nutrients and they will concoct it for you.

You would say, "Hey I need 60 lbs of P and 120 lbs of K per acre for, say, 10 acres. They could blend 1304 lbs of triple super phosphate (0-46-0) and 2000 lbs of potash (0-0-60).

Now I will sit down.

 

[buckhunter10]

Most of us lean on commercial, chemical fertilizers. The timing of the application for P & K isn't all that critical. When you do apply you are making nutrients available in the future. "The future" is a slippery subject. it depends on a lot of things that are going on in you soil and with the type of soil as well. This year, lots of farmers skipped buying P & K for their crops because of low corn and soybean prices. How can they do that? They mine the soil. They are sucking out nutrients they applied last year and the year before when crop prices where high and they could afford to build soil levels. I should be quick to point out, this works when soil nutrient levels are high to very high. At medium it sorta' depends. With low soil nutrient levels, failing to fertilizer is usually a disaster.

One more comment. The, I will sit down. Chicken litter will build OM and potassium....and it will push your pH down, but it will do nothing for your P levels. Back to commercial fertilizers. Ideally you would have a local coop or commercial fertilizer blending facility close by. You tell them what you need in the way of plant nutrients and they will concoct it for you.

You would say, "Hey I need 60 lbs of P and 120 lbs of K per acre for, say, 10 acres. They could blend 1304 lbs of triple super phosphate (0-46-0) and 2000 lbs of potash (0-0-60).

Now I will sit down.

Ok thanks. This is what I did last year they blended it for me and I picked it up in a
"super sack". I'll plan on doing the same thing this year and work in continuing to better the soil.

 

[Wild Thing]

buckhunter10 - where did you get your soil samples analyzed? The pages you posted look very much like the reports I get from Biologic Labs where I have been sending mine in for years. I usually only get the basic soil test for $7.50 but I wanted to get the OM and CEC results last year so I paid the premium price of $16/each and still did not get those results. Thinking about changing labs.

 

[buckhunter10]

buckhunter10 - where did you get your soil samples analyzed? The pages you posted look very much like the reports I get from Biologic Labs where I have been sending mine in for years. I usually only get the basic soil test for $7.50 but I wanted to get the OM and CEC results last year so I paid the premium price of $16/each and still did not get those results. Thinking about changing labs.

Wildlife institute- I think they use the same lab as biologic but give you OM and CEC. Cost is 14 per sample I believe.

 

[Wild Thing]

Wildlife institute- I think they use the same lab as biologic but give you OM and CEC. Cost is 14 per sample I believe.

You must be talking about Whitetail Institute buckhunter. Is that correct?

 

[buckhunter10]

You must be talking about Whitetail Institute buckhunter. Is that correct?

Yes typo on my part!!

 

[Wild Thing]

Thanks buckhunter. Will try them this year.

 

[cutman]

Thanks buckhunter. Will try them this year.

I see that you are from Michigan. MSU offers soil sample services through their extension program:

http://www.spnl.msu.edu/FieldCropSoilSampleSubmission.html

For those of you who don't take advantage of your state extension programs, you are missing out. These programs are usually tax payer funded and extremely helpful.

 

[Wild Thing]

Thanks cutman. I have used MSU for soil tests in the past as we have an MSU Extension office in town. The reason I started using Biologic Labs is because I could get the results emailed back to me a few days after I mailed the samples in, whereas it would take 2 weeks or more to get the results snail-mailed back to me from MSU. I know ..."Patience Grasshopper.....Patience". Instant gratification can be counterproductive I guess. I will have to check with MSU and see if maybe they haven't stepped up to emailing results also.

 

[buckhunter10]

I see that you are from Michigan. MSU offers soil sample services through their extension program:

http://www.spnl.msu.edu/FieldCropSoilSampleSubmission.html

For those of you who don't take advantage of your state extension programs, you are missing out. These programs are usually tax payer funded and extremely helpful.

This isn't so true. I am just so busy with my work schedule that WI makes it so easy.

Jumping on a plane now! Good day y'all!

 

[Smallplot]

While everything looks good what jumps out at me is the Mg being very high. High mg soils will usually crust and can lead to issues with K uptake. What kind of lime did you use?


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[buckhunter10]

While everything looks good what jumps out at me is the Mg being very high. High mg soils will usually crust and can lead to issues with K uptake. What kind of lime did you use?


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the lime was just pelletized lime from the local co-op.