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Little River, TX | Organic matter does not last long here with our 240 days between frosts, and seldom any frost that penitrate's the soil. A 2% OM is doing good.
Here with our type of clay, half the nitrogen applied in any one year can be available to the crop, but does not have to be taken up.
On my hay ground assuming 400 to 500 lbs of residual nitrogen is not unusual. With our residual nitrogen up to half can be available to the crop in any one cropping year. there is enough to produce 6.5 T/A of 12% CP hay. There are the odd year where the production is above 7 tons/A. I shoot for 12% CP hay because that is what sells well here. When I error it is usually on the high side and 15% CP is not unusual. This goes to my better customers, but at the 12 % price.
All my nitrogen is applied in December or January, when the ground is below 50ºF. Some years the ground is too wet to run equipment on and the ground does not get fertilized. This is not a problem and that seasons production is equal to a normal year. In fact three times I held off fertilizer to a field as a test. Each time it was not until year 4 that there was a drop in production.
I brag that I know how much nitrogen is there from my records, but I drop from my spread sheet nitrogen that was applied 4 years previously.
My neighbors who follow University Advise in a drought year get a ton of hay per 9 to 11 inches of rain. Those same years I get a tone of hay per 3.5 to 4.5 inches of rain.
How did I get into this box? One year I had some left over fertilizer when finishing on the far end of the field. So I applied the remainder in a diagonal while leaving the field.
That stripe was visible at the time of the first cutting. So the following year I doubled my application rate and did a planned diagonal stripe. In the Spring and Summer that stripe was not visible, But it was visible for the October cutting.
The following year I increased the nitrogen rate a little more and production slowly improved over the years.
I have considered fertilizing for 8 tons/A but small square baling that puts too many bales on the ground for easy maneuvering and that slows harvesting.
After I backed into the program I now use, I started to look for reasons.
As I have said this system will not work in the sandy lands of East Texas. They tell me it will work in the sandy lands west of me because they do not get enough rain to leach the nitrogen through the sands. When I mention this to the Soils people at TAMU they tell me it does not work. For this and other reasons those people have little or no credibility in the Blacklands.
Hope I satisfied your curiosity. It is like electricity, I do not understand the why but I do understand it does work with my soil, climate and management.
Remember my soil has a 40 to >50 meq/100g CEC and is a Vertisol type clay. Driving on good sod fields when wet will cut ruts that will persist for years and years, in a permanent sod. This soil also has from 4% to 8% free lime which makes thing interesting.
Many of the truths of the Western Arid States apply here, while few of the great truths of the Humid Eastern States apply here. | |
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Soil test ?'s
