Soil Testing: Improving Reliability

Late summer is a good time to check forage and row crop fields for possible nutritional problems and to make plans for fall soil sampling. Problem areas can be identified for selective sampling and the test results can be used to plan fertilizer and lime expenses for the next crop production season. Fields scheduled for tobacco, small grain and/or double cropping need to be sampled first in order to determine lime, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) needs before fall application

Spring Nitrogen Management for Winter Wheat

Wheat producers commonly plan their nitrogen fertilizer management during winter months. The crop begins to break dormancy in many parts of the state in late February and early March and soon begins tillering and growing rapidly if nutrition is adequate. Nitrogen is the nutrient most often required and for which annual costs are the greatest for most wheat growers. Consideration of the following basic principles will help wheat producers improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their nitrogen fertilizer dollars

Fertilization Management in Double Cropping

Double crop systems are being widely adopted by grain and silage producers in Kentucky. The wheat-soybean grain intensive system accounts for nearly 750,000 acres of cropland in the state each year. Alternative silage systems for beef and/or dairy producers involve a fall seeded small grain (wheat, barley, triticale) that is harvested at an immature stage of growth. Immediately afterward a crop for silage (corn, grain sorghum) or grain (soybean, grain sorghum) is planted. When reduced and no-tillage management practices are used the timeliness of planting is improved and losses of surface soil moisture are minimized as the second crop starts growth. As two crops are to be harvested in a single season, fertilizer management is of considerable importance to double crop producers

On-Farm Field Research: Replicating Your Valid Comparison

On-farm research is motivated by a desire to learn more about a product/practice/system on land you manage. You may now have the tools (yield monitor, weighing grain cart, etc.) to accomplish on-farm research that generates information you can use in management decision-making. Your on-farm research should start with the design of a \u27\u27valid comparison , according to your research objective (Soil Science News & Views 26:01)

Use of Magnesium (Mg) for Crop Production in Kentucky

Magnesium (Mg) is an important element in the nutrition of plants and animals, although it has long been considered a secondary nutrient for plants. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are primary\u27\u27 nutrients and are usually given the greatest consideration in crop fertility programs. However, as yield levels have risen, more attention has been directed towards Mg and other nutrient elements. Concern about hypomagnesemia (grass tetany) in ruminants (cattle, sheep) has led to particular concern about soil and plant Mg levels

Acid Rain: A Problem on Agronomic Crops and Soils in Kentucky??

Although the general issue of atmospheric pollution is complex, the image of beautiful lakes without aquatic life has focussed public attention on the acidity, or pH, of rainfall. Kentucky does receive acid rain (see map). This discussion will seek to define atmospheric acidity and its deposition and describe reported effects on agronomic crops and soils

Getting the Full Benefit of Your Lime/Fertilizer Dollar

Start with a soil test, even if soil testing is not a perfect way to identify nutrient needs. There are no one-size-fits-all formulas for starting a field of alfalfa – every field is ‘fertility unique’. Your prior knowledge of the field will cause you to make your initial soil test either well ahead of, or rather closer to, alfalfa seeding. The major driver of the timing of the initial soil test is soil acidity. If field soil acidity is suspected, soil test well ahead of seeding – 6 to 12 months ahead. Lime takes time to more thoroughly neutralize higher amounts of soil acidity (soil pH \u3c 5.8). Otherwise, make the soil test 3 to 6 months ahead of seeding. UK lime and fertilizer rate recommendations are intended to maximize lime and fertilizer value to the alfalfa grower – and are nuanced (especially in the splitting of the high rates of phosphate (P2O5) and potash (K2O) associated with low testing fields

Current Research on Soil Nitrate Testing for Corn in Kentucky

Concern has been expressed that growers do not have the slte-specific information they need for more efficient nitrogen (N) fertilizer management on a field-by-field basis. Soil testing has routinely been used to guide recommendations for phosphorus, potassium, and lime additions to individual fields, but effective soil N test procedures have long eluded soil scientists working in warm, humid regions with substantial winter rainfall. Now, recent research suggests that a new soil test procedure has some potential to guide fertilizer N applications for corn. The purpose of this report is to define the concept of soil nitrate testing; to describe how It is conducted for corn; and to review some of our latest research information

Soil pH: What It Is, How It Is Measured, Why It Is Important

Soil pH is related to the hydrogen ion (H+) activity of the soil-water system. The chemical definition of pH is as follows: pH=-log (H+). In other words, for a pH drop of 1 unit (e. g. from pH 6 to pH 5) there will be a ten~fold increase in H+ activity in the soil solution. If pH 1 rises by 1 unit, only one-tenth as much acidity will be present in solution. As such, pH is only a measure of the active acidity in the soil water solution bathing plant roots. This fraction of total soil acidity is extremely small. It would take less than 1/2 pound of calcitic lime per acre to neutralize the active acidity contained in the soil solution of 8 inches of pH 5.0 silt loam topsoil at field moisture capacity

On-Farm Field Research: Setting Up a Valid Comparison

Producers now have the tools (grain carts with load cells, yield monitors, GPS) to do on-farm field research. Additionally, growers are being made aware of more and more products/management options that they might use. One might read farm magazines, talk to neighbors, attend extension and industry presentations, but still wonder whether a particular recommendation would be of benefit. So the question remains. How would this (product, change in management) work on the land that I farm? Tools plus uncertainty equals motivation for an on-farm comparison