Soil sampling kit

[Kidds]

Not sure who you pair are trying to convince

 

[Cab-over Pete]

I'm not trying to convince anybody. If people can't see that for exactly what it is then they never will, no matter what anybody says.

It's no skin off my nose, just saying.

 

[Mounty]

^ What he said.
Just hoping people might understand a bit more by reading this thread and seeing some first hand examples that can go largely ignored but also explain possible issues.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

^ What he said.
Just hoping people might understand a bit more by reading this thread and seeing some first hand examples that can go largely ignored but also explain possible issues.

Been a bl00dy interesting thread for this guy, anyway. I am working on the biological aspect of soil health here, so far seems to be working without adding anything much.
Has been an amazing contrast between soil testing performed at the end of winter, to mid summer, you would think we'd tested different farms, but I marked each plug for repeatability.. incredible to see how much things 'wake up' when the soils are being grazed/actively growing.
Thanks all for your input.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

In my tiny patch of England, it's been transformed in thee years from a weed and sapling infested bog simply topping, liming, digging basic drainage channels and hard grazing.

You could hardly walk across some of it three years ago for wet and overgrown crap.

I put salt on it two years ago. That made a difference. I didn't do it last year but I will this year.

Simple things have woken up our patch no end

 

[Shovelhands]

I think the simplest way I've had it described to me, and is how I find it best to describe to others, regarding the lab test and the grinding of the sample, is, if you were to pick the whole field up, dry it, grind it, and put it back down again, then there'd possibly be no need to add lime. But as has been covered here, this simply is not the case.

I also have customers who have trusted the result of the lab test, giving an impressive average of the pH value, it's doesn't last long before they are asking questions why crops aren't performing ect, they are soon hitting it hard with lime to make it right again! Every day's a school day

 

[Kidds]

I'm not trying to convince anybody. If people can't see that for exactly what it is then they never will, no matter what anybody says.

It's no skin off my nose, just saying.

That was exactly my point Pete.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

In my tiny patch of England, it's been transformed in thee years from a weed and sapling infested bog simply topping, liming, digging basic drainage channels and hard grazing.

You could hardly walk across some of it three years ago for wet and overgrown crap.

I put salt on it two years ago. That made a difference. I didn't do it last year but I will this year.

Simple things have woken up our patch no end

I was feeding cows salt and amazing how much that improves both the animal and the pasture in certain areas that didn't used to grow grass-suddenly alive and well. 240 cows would sometimes consume about 5 pounds a day, often next to none..
On that farm, fishmeal fert, bit of elemental sulphur and lime was all that went on.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

That was exactly my point Pete.

I knew what you meant, don't worry.

 

[Brisel]

@Cab-over Pete The 'greening' of the soil in that first pic is often a bit of a give away too......Not always but often

What is the greening? Acid loving algae?

 

[Brisel]

What do you mean by salt? Sodium chloride?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

What do you mean by salt? Sodium chloride?

Yep good old coarse ag salt.
Good weedkiller too.
We have big trough trailers aka PK trailers, but would put them out with salt and a bag of mineral+salt. And they'd scoff it by lunchtime and want another. If I hadn't have been carrying it to them I'd never believe they'd eat it. Not in quantity

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Should maybe add that was not far from the coast. And urine patches looked like you'd spilled MAP. Don't know how. But some of those hippy organic folk do know a thing or 2..

 

[scholland]

Great thread. The ph side of things make sense to me.
How many folk are using more in depth soil analysis, albrecht etc, and are you finding much benefit?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

What do you mean by salt? Sodium chloride?

Yep, but I didn't buy ag salt. I just went to the haulier I used to work for and cleared out his bay of road salt. I don't recall the application rate but after posting it on here it seemed as though I had put about 12 times the required amount on!

Still, it worked a treat I reckon. Cost me bugger all.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Yep, but I didn't buy ag salt. I just went to the haulier I used to work for and cleared out his bay of road salt. I don't recall the application rate but after posting it on here it seemed as though I had put about 12 times the required amount on!

Still, it worked a treat I reckon. Cost me bugger all.

Remember to jam 12 times the web recommendation on yer hay paddocks too then [emoji6] cheapest magic crystals anywhere.

 

[Surgery]

Yep, but I didn't buy ag salt. I just went to the haulier I used to work for and cleared out his bay of road salt. I don't recall the application rate but after posting it on here it seemed as though I had put about 12 times the required amount on!

Still, it worked a treat I reckon. Cost me bugger all.

Can I remember you saying the salt helped mushrooms ?

What else does the salt benefit ?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

We seemed to have a thicker sward, the sheep grazed it tight and they did well. Every lamb, even triplets, were gone in 14-15 weeks if I recall correctly.

We had thousands of mushrooms but I'm told that will only be a one off thing. This was two years ago. Last years lambs seemed to take an age to finish and we had very few mushrooms. I'm going to put some salt on again this year so it will be interesting to see how things go.

 

[Surgery]

We seemed to have a thicker sward, the sheep grazed it tight and they did well. Every lamb, even triplets, were gone in 14-15 weeks if I recall correctly.

We had thousands of mushrooms but I'm told that will only be a one off thing. This was two years ago. Last years lambs seemed to take an age to finish and we had very few mushrooms. I'm going to put some salt on again this year so it will be interesting to see how things go.

So how would we go on about getting hold of some salt , would only want a bit as historically we have had loads of mushrooms and lately none , or is there a product that's spreadable , if not might just raid the village salt chest !

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Interesting, this place is renowned for mushrooms too. Too much cover and too warm for them yet however. I'd not made the link between the two
(As in ten pails a week per 5ac paddock worth) it has been fed only seaweed fert in the last decade, twice a year.
Did you find the salt made the grass really thick, but not so long but really fertilised-looking? I am making my own brew in a big damaged tank this year with what I can drag off the beach without being noticed, not even rinsing the salt off, will see if it's as good as the bought stuff.
I'll go out on a limb and say yes to the Albrecht tests, sent over to Australia, and not only did they say all the right things but the grass seems to be backing it up at this stage. Not so high in sodium in the winter as the summer which I don't understand.?