Two years ago i bought a really run down smallholding and have spent this time clearing scrub, trees and general rubbish.
After last years enormous price rise of fertilizer can anyone give advice on how much they use and at what times of the year. Someone recently told me to put on 50 units. Does a unit equate to a kg? I run 7 dexters and 30 sheep on the land which has just been increased to 20 acres this year.
I realise that soil test should be done but i would just like a general guide.
Mike - You really do need tests. Our land is severely depleted because it was arable for decades and they threw everything at it and took it out as well. The soil PH is fine, but P, K and N are desparately low. So we're doing a mixture of things which included muck spreading every year, and also 25 Nitrogen / 10 Phosphate every Spring, and also introducing clover. It will be a long, slow, and expensive. Overall it'll take say 5 years to get grass to grow here without fertiliser. If our soil PH was the problem then we would be doing things quite differently.
We also spread our clover and grasses by grazing cattle and sheep when it's in seed and then moving them to another field every day.
Have you got a local farmer who could look at tell you what he thinks. A lot of farmers who don't do tests would be putting on say 50kg per acre of 25 nitrogen / 10 phosphate in the Spring (March?) as a matter of course, but you can go up to 150kg. You might be able to get some from a local farmer but they may have already ordered their stuff.
Composted muck will have loads of P and K in it, but not much Nitrogen. But does your land need anything other than muck. Someone with a lot more experience than me will be able to tell you more.
You do need at least to discover your lime requirements, but don’t assume you need other fertilizer. If your soil is acid no other treatments will be effective. When I moved her 40 years ago. I limed the lot, I was advised I would need to do so on a regular basis, I have sampled since but have needed no more. I have used no straight NPK, but I did use some fish fertilizer, and seaweed in the early days, since then I have relied on farmyard manure on the ground from which I take my silage crop. As Clive says arable farmers often dress the ground heavily but ultimately leave it much poorer. Encourage your clover and get as much muck on the ground as possible. I purchase my hay, which is the small part of my feed requirements, and also feed suckler cow rolls, that buys in a bit of fertility. My contractor usually comments on the very heavy silage crop.
Beryl.
Being re-claimed land it will probably be deficient in something and that is the reason you must do soil samples. If your P & K index is not correct then you will not benifit fully from nitrogen applied.
If you feel the need to apply fertilizer then use a compound like 20-10-10 (N-P-K) and spread at a rate of between 50 & 100kg acre (depending on how deep your pockets are). I usually spread fertiliser as soon as the land will take the weight of a tractor in March (about normal for this area). My area for hay normally gets about 150kg of nitrogen a year, P & K as required, grazing paddocks get a trickle of nitrogen (rarely need P & K) throughout the season.
A soil test is really the first step because without it anything else is guesswork. So much depends on where you are and what has or hasn't been done by previous owners. Farmers Weekly has a list of companies that can do it. The most important aspect is the interpretation of the results to turn the data into useful advice. Lime is often needed to counteract acidity and if its needed, no amount of expensive fertiliser will do any good. Look at this list of companies and see if there is anyone local to you. http://www.agregister.co.uk/product-404750.html
As well as testing so you know what you have, there is quite a variety of ways of supplying the different requirements in terms of ways of application eg granular, powder, injection etc and of length of benefit. Lime and slag were the old fashioned ways of making basic improvements and I think the modern equivalents can be supplied in varying compositions which will suit different methods of application, some easier for big time contractors and others easier to apply eg by spinner at back of an old tractor.
Myself, I have not used any fertilizer of any sort for years, most of the ground I rent has been in grass for 20 years and some of it for 50 without a reseed. Rushes are more of a problem than anything and I am tackling that slowly. I am fortunate in having different areas I can move animals between and have some ground I have not yet had them on due to lack of fencing. At the moment I rent about 45 acres, use maybe about 60% of it, and buy in hay for winter feeding. I have about 18-20 Dexters of varying ages most of the time, but the slack in the system means I can up my numbers quite a bit without increasing my inputs.
I suppose it is a bit like managing livestock, you can go for maximum input maximum output, as in modern dairying, or minimum input minimum output. I think Dexters work best some where in the middle.
Duncan
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
Hi Mike,
As Martin say's 20-10-10 is a good dressing at 50 to 100 kgs per acrea. 100 kgs for silage or hay. Granulated lime will do you a lot of good as it sweetens the ground and helps to get rid of buttercups. It can be applied with the fertilizer spinner.We were applying Calcified sea-weed but this can work out expensive. We apply farmyard after the last grazing, about October. If you spread farmyard early in the year you will probably take a good ammount back to the shed in the silage. We broadcast clover seed mixed with grass seed onto the muck after grazing. It will soon germinate and this will help with the Nitrogen. Clover is Nitrogen binding. The cattle also love clover in the hay. Whatever you do do'nt put on slurry, it will kill all of the worm's and you will have the best dock's in the county. Also weather permitting graze as tight as you can within reason with the sheep as they will clear a lot of weeds particularly butter-cups.
Hillhead Dexters N.I.
Hi Mike you can tell a lot on the PH of your soil by looking to see what is growing if you have clover then it will not be acidic and not really require lime if you have rushes moss and stuff like that then this indicates a high water table and therefore acidic soil. Besides adding the lime you will also need to improve the soil so it drains better-- this might be done by breaking the pan just underneath the ground usually where it is ploughed. Contractor for that as you will need a big tractor to pull the mole plough. This cracks the pan and allows better drainage. Calcified sea weed and calcium in prill form are both beneficial to improving your PH.
Get a kit from boots, collect soil from various parts of the field mix it together divde mix and then test with your litmus paper. It will turn blue or pink indicating acidic or alkaline simple dont waste your money on firms. If your still unsure ask your farming neighbour to have a look for you.
I put 1cwt 20:10:10 or the nearest equivalent on as soon as i can in the Spring and 2 bags for the haylage. In the summer if i am getting a bit short i will give another half cwt/ acre
hope this helps but ask your neighbour is a good idea.
Hi Mike
Sorry I don't know where you are but I recently had some soil tests done at Mole Valley Farmers. It only cost £15 for a reallly comprehensive test. Afterwards you get the results and a forage advisor contacts you about products that should correct any defficiencies.
My advice would be don't put apply anything until you have had a test done as you could be paying a huge amount for nutrients you don't need.
To get a sample you just have to walk in a big W shape accross the field collecting 15 to 20 samples of soil. Mix these together and fill up a small freezer bag.
The results give you and index (from 1-5) for nutrient levels. The most important ones to look for are P and K. If the index is 2 or above you probably wont need to apply any for now.
Available nitrogen levels can't be tested for in this way and the previous crop is the best guide to what is there. At your stocking rate the best thing to do is to get as much clover established as possible (even if this means a re-seed). Once established good clover cover can give you up to 150kg (units) of nitrogen/hectare a year for free.
I hope that this is of some help (it is my first post!)
We've been thinking about this issue too and was planning to ask on here what people's thoughts were. So thanks to Mike for starting the post and thank you to everyone for sharing your advice! Next job: soil test
All the best
Caroline
Ferryboat Dexters
Richard Knott & Caroline Littler
Thorganby
York
wow that was really informative, i have asked my local agent to do soil tests for me and at some point i will introduce a lot more clover.
For any one reading this there is an excellent download on Broomcroft's web site for the advantages of introducing clover which gives lots of different varieties and their characteristics of both white and red clover.
Lets hope we have a drier summer this year and i might well keep you all informed of my progress.
Well folks, i've had the soil test results back. PH is 5.0 so under advice i've applied 4cwt(200kg) of calciprill . the Phosphorus was low at 13 with a guideline of 26 so ive applied 2 cwt per acre of 21: 8:11.
I will soil test again next year to see if this has improved the values.
Thankyou to all the people who have given comments or advice.
can anyone give advice on how much they use and at what times of the year. Someone recently told me to put on 50 units. Does a unit equate to a kg? I run 7 dexters and 30 sheep on the land which has just been increased to 20 acres this year.
to all the people who have given comments or advice.