Fert for sheep grazing any help appreciate

[The Seeker]

Not something I had been planning on at all but we have had to tighten up our area with very very and very inconvenient and short notice and now find myself needing grass asap, I have 30 acres I need to maximise , I was thinking 20-25kg nitrogen per acre to kick start it this spring, I have never applied fertiliser before , yes I’m aware the costs are high but does 25kg per acre sound right ? I’ve just been caught between a rock and a hard place . Any thoughts ?or Any recommendations for blends ? Really just looking for a quick hit to keep me in the game.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I don’t know, but I was always told that less than 50kg/acre on grassland and you were just wasting money?

 

[The Seeker]

Open to hear any general applications. Going on pp that hasn’t seen fert in years , like I said literally caught out at somewhat blipped off with former landlord.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Daft as it might sound, get a soil test done. You might find you are short on sulphur or similar which will inhibit your nitrogen uptake and utilisation. In which case you want a blend with S in it

 

[aangus]

Open to hear any general applications. Going on pp that hasn’t seen fert in years , like I said literally caught out at somewhat blipped off with former landlord.

Go with 3/4 of a bag of nitrogen, and you will get a nice response

 

[Formatted]

Appreciate you probably don't want this advice, but have you considered running fewer sheep and selling the fertiliser? You could sell all your single ewes with lambs at foot, be a great boost to your productivity, culling all the less fertile ones, and you'll have a bunch in the bank

 

[The Seeker]

Ha yes but I literally have no time. The dice had been thrown already and we are now where we are at, tbh rather dirty move by chap I had grazing licence with but sometime you win done you loose, appreciate the advice tho I just need to get up and running this spring / then reduce breeding stock in the back end

 

[tr250]

Not something I had been planning on at all but we have had to tighten up our area with very very and very inconvenient and short notice and now find myself needing grass asap, I have 30 acres I need to maximise , I was thinking 20-25kg nitrogen per acre to kick start it this spring, I have never applied fertiliser before , yes I’m aware the costs are high but does 25kg per acre sound right ? I’ve just been caught between a rock and a hard place . Any thoughts ?or Any recommendations for blends ? Really just looking for a quick hit to keep me in the game.

We put 43kg of N on grass I think it’s a good amount to kick start it growing but affordable. If you were to put 34.5 kg of N on that would make a fair difference and you would only need 2 bags of nitram for your 30 acres. As people have said above do a soil test to see what the ph p and k are if they are not right your N will have less effect

 

[Lemon curd]

"Quick hit to keep you in the game" is nitrogen. N is plant food, p+k is feeding the soil so the plants can help themselves to it when needed. If its for grazing, perhaps a gentle 50kgs/acre of 34.5% n, then repeat if necessary in 6-8 weeks when its been used up. If its for cutting, you need more n, perhaps 100 kgs/acre and muck/slurry if you have any. Hope this helps

 

[Kiwi Pete]

From the info provided, I'd go straight for ammonium sulphate. With cold soils you seldom get a reliable soil [sulphur] test or much of a response from urea, whereas AS is Nitrogen in a plant-available, soluble form - with Sulphur

it will give things a good kick in the arse, and tends to do a lot better early on than urea.

Wait til it warms up and get a soil test, without knowing the history of the place it might be low in P or K or have something "out of whack" which if addressed, could make it more productive than just throwing N at it, especially the way prices have gone

 

[milkloss]

Won't need much N like said but sheep and N don't always get on too well. One reason is simply that it makes them sh1t and its more sloppy so they can get messy if you over cook it.

 

[Agri Spec Solicitor]

We let some land on seasonal grazing licences.
Last year’s fertiliser component in the rental was £30. This year the same 100kg per acre duly spread is £92.50.
I ordered the fert so we could do whatever the customers wanted, and arranged a quote for slurry as an alternative.
We are only part way through the process and I am surprised that some sheep farmers seem to be renting a bigger area but with no fertiliser hence a few new faces.
For our pedigree cattle we are just applying the same fertiliser as last year, as are the high performance dairy farmers.
If we weren’t concerned about Johnes I think slurry is the best value if you can get a local supply.

 

[Woolless]

Will the OP get enough bang for his buck applying fertiliser to old PP?

 

[czechmate]

I don’t know, but I was always told that less than 50kg/acre on grassland and you were just wasting money?

Hmm, IMO, the first kg gives you the best value and the last, the worst.

To the op, 40kg/ha of N but if using AN for instant results and sheep maybe down to 25/30

My first year using nothing at all on grass

 

[ollie989898]

I would be hard pressed to put nitrogen on land without soil testing first if I am honest. Nitrogen will generally bring more growth into the picture on even the most neglected dirt you could find but value for money and efficiency would not be ideal. Check pH, P, K and S first.

I would be angling to get slurry put on some where I could. Often farms or AD units about looking to get rid of liquid.

 

[andybk]

Slurry then lime , any pig farms near you , slurry on its own is ok but will make the ground sour long term , spend on liming after to sweeten it back up

 

[Benn]

Not to hijack the thread,
But can anybody recommend a soil test kit to buy?

 

[tepapa]

I shouldn't think old pp would be very efficient at utilising nitrogen. Would it be better applying lime or even calcifert especially considering the cost of n fertilizer?

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I shouldn't think old pp would be very efficient at utilising nitrogen. Would it be better applying lime or even calcifert especially considering the cost of n fertilizer?

Need to do a soil test , it will benefit if it needs lime , but the main item it sheep grazing is Clover and the right Clover depending on how you manage it , Clover don't like acid soil either

 

[tr250]

Will the OP get enough bang for his buck applying fertiliser to old PP?

Depends how it’s been treated. People always say old permanent pasture is rubbish but it needs looking after same as anything else and if it has been for at least 10 years the species of grass will yield and react the the N