PATB
Well-known member
The discussion on minerals topic brought up this question in my mind. What are you doing to improve your soil? We are applying manure to the fileds as time and regualtions permit.
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Soil building?
- Thread starter PATB
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DOC HARRIS
Well-known member
PATB-PATB said:The discussion on minerals topic brought up this question in my mind. What are you doing to improve your soil? We are applying manure to the fileds as time and regualtions permit.
Good for you! Application of manure has been known to be advantageous for the improvement of soils since Biblical Days! As knowledge and more sophistication of Chemical awareness has evolved, we are realizing that just "throwing manure on the ground" is not the answer to a correct improvement program for soils improvement.
SOIL TESTING is the proper protcol for doing soil improvement correctly, of which I am sure you are aware. The methods of determining EXACTLY what your soils LACK, and therefore require, for optimal chemical BALANCE comes as close to providing the ANSWER to most forage and production requirements as we can get today.
The critical and important factor to bear in mind is - not ALL soils are the same, and therefore the requirements are different for different reasons. If a specific area of soil requires an acid content in order to produce a specific crop - it then becomes incumbent upon the producer to determine exactly WHAT the needs are, and to provide those requirements -EXACTLY - not MORE than is necessary - and certainly not LESS than is necessary. The same factors are applicable if a specific soil is TOO acidic, and therefore requires 'sweetening', or the application of Lime to bring the pH balance to the desirable level necessary for the specific crop being raised on that land. That is why "Soil Testing" is so crucial for the correct application of soil amendments so as to not waste money, and actually doing harm by the inappropriate use of fertilizer (even MANURE) where it is not needed, or creates an IMBALANCE of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium and the many "trace minerals", which are important in their own right. Animal manure is reasonably high in Nitrogen, and if the soil has been being used for the growing of Clovers or Alfalfa, or other Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root nodules, sometimes the application of animal manures is not only wasteful, but can be the cause of an excess of Nitrogen, and an imbalance of Nitrogen with Phosphorous.
That is why "Soil Testing" is necessary. It could save you a LOT of money and unnecessary labor.
The operative and salient fact I wish to express here is that the PROPER BALANCE of soil nutirients is as important as the proper balance of Phenotype, Genotype, Physical Characteristics, and Functional Traits in the mating of our Beef Cattle to provide a satisfactory BOTTOM LINE PROFIT, and thereby keep the Beef Industry functioning during a tight market!
It is the "Little Things" which count, and wasted manure and Fertilizer becomes a "Big Thing" if not managed properly.
DOC HARRIS
Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
We ranch in a semi arid piece of Saskatchewan. We are in an area of "Badlands" with very thin soil profiles. We use some of our range once every three years. It is for about a 60 day period for breeding in July and August. Other land gets used for dormant season grazing and other land get used rotationally along with some tame forages. Manure on our native prairie just grows weeds and creates opportunity for invasives.
What builds our soils and helps grow grass is leaving a good stand of dead grass and litter to catch and hold moisture.
What builds our soils and helps grow grass is leaving a good stand of dead grass and litter to catch and hold moisture.
PureCountry
Well-known member
Don't forget BMR, the next step in that equation is knocking that dead stuff over the following year with hoof action to get it in contact with the soil. If it stays erect and dead, it's just oxidizing, and you're not gaining anything.
We've done many things. Bale grazing has had the greatest improvement and increase in organic matter, although buying the bales is a costly venture, making it a very expensive feeding regime. Next on the list has been high stock density grazing, on paddocks that only get touched once per year. We try to stockpile at least 1/3 of our pasture for winter/following spring grazing. When I say stockpiling, I mean fogging - nothing touches those paddocks all year long. It does wonders for the soil in a number of ways. Obviously, it traps moisture and shades the soil's bare spots. It allows roots to go deeper and farther in their search for nutrients. And another huge benefit, is that it allows 1/3 of the ranch to reseed itself naturally every year. Those stands get thicker, and although the "weeds" get to reseed themselves also, the native/tame species eventually choke them out. Weeds do not appear where there is healthy soil. They are a symptom of an underlying soil imbalance.
There are a lot of things I would like to try in the future. I'd like to do more amendments as Doc mentioned, although some can be very pricey. We lack Calcium and Copper here big time, but there are very few good sources of either within a reasonable distance, making it a costly fix. I may try some foliar applications on small acres to see how it works. Products like GSR Calcium, liquid fish, sea salts and many others have caught my interest from time to time.
We've done many things. Bale grazing has had the greatest improvement and increase in organic matter, although buying the bales is a costly venture, making it a very expensive feeding regime. Next on the list has been high stock density grazing, on paddocks that only get touched once per year. We try to stockpile at least 1/3 of our pasture for winter/following spring grazing. When I say stockpiling, I mean fogging - nothing touches those paddocks all year long. It does wonders for the soil in a number of ways. Obviously, it traps moisture and shades the soil's bare spots. It allows roots to go deeper and farther in their search for nutrients. And another huge benefit, is that it allows 1/3 of the ranch to reseed itself naturally every year. Those stands get thicker, and although the "weeds" get to reseed themselves also, the native/tame species eventually choke them out. Weeds do not appear where there is healthy soil. They are a symptom of an underlying soil imbalance.
There are a lot of things I would like to try in the future. I'd like to do more amendments as Doc mentioned, although some can be very pricey. We lack Calcium and Copper here big time, but there are very few good sources of either within a reasonable distance, making it a costly fix. I may try some foliar applications on small acres to see how it works. Products like GSR Calcium, liquid fish, sea salts and many others have caught my interest from time to time.
Northern Rancher
Well-known member
That's one thing about paddocks you can make a bunch of test plots and not take as much ranch out pf production. A year of total rest just about wiped out a bad canada thistle problem in my native meadows. Bale grazing is probably the most positive thing we've done also.
Northern Rancher
Well-known member
i doubt I'll ever purchase any tonics if the grass is healthy and the cows are healthy I'll assume the soil is too.
You might find this little book interesting,PC. It summarizes Prof Henry's 40 years of tromping around in fields with a great grassroots style.
If you ever talk to Les you will find his answers to your questions just plain logical and indisputable.http://www.saskpublishers.sk.ca/cgi-bin/bookstore/book?id=2745
If you ever talk to Les you will find his answers to your questions just plain logical and indisputable.http://www.saskpublishers.sk.ca/cgi-bin/bookstore/book?id=2745
greybeard said:You might find this little book interesting,PC. It summarizes Prof Henry's 40 years of tromping around in fields with a great grassroots style.
If you ever talk to Les you will find his answers to your questions just plain logical and indisputable.http://www.saskpublishers.sk.ca/cgi-bin/bookstore/book?id=2745
Les is a great soil scientist and a good teacher. I think he knows everybody in Saskatchewan and he could remember 400 names from a first year ag class and where you were from. In a soil science lab one time, he asked a girl how her soil sample compared to where she was from. She answered, but it was not what he wanted to know she'd learned. He then asked her how it compared to her neighbour and named the neighbour and where he lived from her house. Her jaw just about hit the floor.
Doc Harris - soil testing for chemical balance is important, but I would argue that it is also important to have some biology in that soil mix as well. We haven't done much soil testing for many years, but are planning some curiosity work going forward. I would think that manure testing would also fall into the course of action when mixing and matching things together in the pot of management.
