fertiliser on silage ground

whelan1

me da says its too late to spread p and k on silage ground but given the year thats in it , what do you think?

djmc

Spread it and just cut it later in june
They say not to spread slurry on long leafy grass though

whelan1

not much chance of long leafy grass here :rolleyes:

reilig

Definitely not too late, just make sure you don't cut silage for at least 6 weeks, or if you do, wilt it well. I only ever heard of it being too late to spread urea, never for P and K. I often spread 18-6-12 in July if I am running short of grass. It works well and ensures a good grass growth right up to October.

wiggy123

to late for urea??? i still to spread some on fields..be the first this year!hopefully this Saturday..
if its to late--what to spread on grazing fields..
plan to close of silage ground 1st of may...as grazing them at mo..to get a build up of grass
and still have over half the cattle in--be next week before out...
headaches

whelan1

def not late for urea wiggy

wiggy123

a relief to hear that..have a ton of it in storage...awaiting the fields...must get me can now for the silage ground..or what would ppl use...intend to spread, 1st week of may..for round bales...

BeeDI

reilig wrote: »

Definitely not too late, just make sure you don't cut silage for at least 6 weeks, or if you do, wilt it well. I only ever heard of it being too late to spread urea, never for P and K. I often spread 18-6-12 in July if I am running short of grass. It works well and ensures a good grass growth right up to October.

Agreed. I usually spread 24:2.5:5 for silage in mid April. Did it yesterday at 3.5 bags to acre. Cut at 7 weeks. Never yet had a problem.
Silage ground gets the slurry after cutting the silage, to boost the P&K.

Might use 18:6:12 one year in 3 for further P&K boost.

B

reilig

wiggy123 wrote: »

to late for urea??? i still to spread some on fields..be the first this year!hopefully this Saturday..
if its to late--what to spread on grazing fields..
plan to close of silage ground 1st of may...as grazing them at mo..to get a build up of grass
and still have over half the cattle in--be next week before out...
headaches

Sorry Wiggy, my point came across wrong. They say that there's no point spreading urea after early june. But other fertilizer can be spread right up to the end of August and you'll get grass growth for it.

wiggy123

didn't know that..i spreaded urea last year-up to august...
so what would you use then,on grazing ground(Can??) or pasture sward....

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Agreed. I usually spread 24:2.5:5 for silage in mid April. Did it yesterday at 3.5 bags to acre. Cut at 7 weeks. Never yet had a problem.
Silage ground gets the slurry after cutting the silage, to boost the P&K.

Might use 18:6:12 one year in 3 for further P&K boost.

B

Do you not think that putting slurry on silage ground after cutting is a bit of a waste? I used to do it, but feel that there's far more benefit from spreading it in March and April. When I spread in June or July, it did grow nice grass, but the cattle didn't like it and it was usually only half eaten and left where it became a dirty white sole by the following spring which usually needed to be topped before I closed up the meadow. Any nutrients that were in the slurry are leeched by the time the spring comes around.

I spread slurry about 4 weeks ago and put on 1 bag to the acre of urea about 2 weeks ago. I have good grass coming on at the moment and it should be fit to cut by the end of may. Its a huge saving in fertilizer costs - and the slurry has to be spread at some time.

reilig

wiggy123 wrote: »

didn't know that..i spreaded urea last year-up to august...
so what would you use then,on grazing ground(Can??) or pasture sward....

I heard it on a teagasc farm walk last year. The urea works best in the early months of spring and summer, you'll still get grass growth if you use it after this time, but not as much as earlier in the year. They were recommending 18-6-12 or pasture swart for spreading after june.

wiggy123

thanks..will take that on board...
because i normally get 3-4 spreadings a year done on grazing ground...at a bag to an acre each time! keeps me going..well did last year--kept me ahead of the possy(cattle)

pakalasa

I always thought the reason for not spreading Urea was that ground conditions were too dry so more N is lost to atmosphere.

I think it is better to wait now until some light rain is forecast before spreading. Ground is getting dry in places - never thought I'd get to say that.:D

whelan1

i am spreading 22- 2- 8.5 at 5 bags to the acre where no slurry and 4 bags to the acre where got slurry getting this at 300 euro a tonne

wiggy123

its all money

whelan1

well you get nothing for nothing :rolleyes:

wiggy123

to true...
but like to get somthing as cheap as you can like

whelan1

i think i paid 400 euro a tonne last year for similar fertiliser so just goes to show it has come back , but you cant afford not to spread it , too much to loose ...

wiggy123

too true,it has come back..prob will rise to last years prices before end of year again!
only alternative is cut back on stock numbers--and increase there production...returns

Bitten & Hisses

I spread urea all through last year (and got good results), but that was due to the weather. In a warmer, drier year I'd be stopping in late April and using CAN instead. I always spread the slurry after the first cut. I know it's best practice to spread earlier in the year, but I don't have the facility to evacuate and hold all the cattle in their separate groups during agitation and the tank I have would not be the best when ground is not fully dry. I take a calculated hit on Nitrogen costs as a result.

eorna

have urea left and was going to spread it on silage ground (at 1 bag/acre) next week if weather dampens a bit.someone told me too late for urea on silage ground, but sure i have it and i don't want to be spending more money in CAN or other.. am i making a mistake?? i always spread urea all year around and get decent results.. i think the problem is more in the spreading conditions than in the actual stuff. (i find urea more value for money than other)

lifelover2006

whelan1 wrote: »

i am spreading 22- 2- 8.5 at 5 bags to the acre where no slurry and 4 bags to the acre where got slurry getting this at 300 euro a tonne

my God, that's a lot of fertiliser to be spreading. I know I'm only a basic beef farmer but I only spread 2 bags of CAN on the silage ground with about 3000 gallons of slurry in Feb and a bag and a half on grazing with no slurry.

am i being too tight with Fert?????

whelan1

we where told 105-110 units of n per acre

adne

whelan1 wrote: »

we where told 105-110 units of n per acre

whats that in kg per acre??

ellewood

4 50 kg bags can 27% n per acre

any1 a rough idea how many bales per acre after this amount also would you spread the same for second cut and would you get a third cut if 1st cut was in early june

wiggy123

u could get 3 cuts...depends on weather--grass growth...
i plan to mayb get 3 cuts also...

ellewood

yea, hoping to get 3 cuts this year build up a reserve of silage bales again i spread 90 units n last week hoping to cut 10th june will go again with 90 units after that just wondering would you go with same after 2nd cut or would it be wasted it will be mid aug when spreading for 3rd cut to cut end sept ??

BeeDI

ellewood wrote: »

yea, hoping to get 3 cuts this year build up a reserve of silage bales again i spread 90 units n last week hoping to cut 10th june will go again with 90 units after that just wondering would you go with same after 2nd cut or would it be wasted it will be mid aug when spreading for 3rd cut to cut end sept ??

Eliminate second and third cuts, and replace with bought in concentrates.
Save yourself a pile of work, a pile of hassle and a pile of money.
Have the ease of having nice grazing for cattle throughout the summer.

I'm even cutting back on the first cut. No way in hell, for me anyway, is silage production cost competitive with bought in meal, at this years meal prices at least.

ellewood

i can get high dm 72dmd+ which has a me of around 11 which is as good as barley for a little over 13 euro at this price youd want to be getting rolled barley delivered for around 120/ ton will it be this price? who knows i bet the tillage lads hope not, also i havent the storage for large amounts of grain where as bales can be sacked on slab where i need em i do agree theres a lot of work with em lot of late evenins drawing in bales but sher..

wiggy123

concentrates will go up,not stay as is..as less ppl will grow cereals this year,leading to a shortage for next winter...be forewarned!
i wouldn't put out as much fert per acre for 2nd/3rd cuts...a bit less...