Fertilizing High Producing Alfalfa Stands

There are no secrets for successfully producing a high quality alfalfa crop. Successful alfalfa production is a product of suitable site selection, proper fertility and pH management, good pest control, and favorable weather conditions throughout the season. This paper focuses on proper fertility and pH management practices

Composting Swine Manure from High Rise Finishing Facilities

Swine production has restructured considerably in recent years with increased production on fewer farms (Key et al., 2011). Most swine production facilities manage manure in liquid form either in deep pits underneath production facilities or in lagoons adjacent to the production facilities (Key et al., 2011). This management uses water to rinse manure from the facilities, which dilutes the nutrient concentration and value of the manure. The liquid forms are applied to land through irrigation systems or by liquid manure spreaders. Liquid manure management can have some operational constraints that composting eliminates (Bernal et al., 2009). The most common issue with handling liquid manure is that the manure has diluted nutrients and it is often not economical to transport large volumes of lagoon effluent to off‐site locations. Surface spreading through an irrigator is commonly used, but wet environments can delay application. Odor can be a concern if liquid manure is surface applied and not incorporated; and although soil incorporation does reduce manure odors, they can still be a concern

Limitations and Benefits to Cultivating Tobacco

Historically, between-row cultivation for weed control has been an integral part of tobacco production. In one season, a grower might perform five or more cultivations and several hand weeding operations for adequate weed control. Early herbicide chemistries would control some weeds, but not all, forcing the producer to cultivate and hand weed. The development of better herbicides improved the range of weeds controlled, sometimes to the point that cultivation for weed control was not warranted. Many producers are so accustomed to cultivating they have forgotten why cultivation was necessary. The decision to cultivate should largely be based on the presence of weeds, but there are exceptions

Impact of Fertilizer Type, Seeding Coating, and Duration of Exposure on the Germination of Red Clover Seed

Legumes are important components in grassland ecosystems. Red clover is one the most used legumes in the transition zones states like Kentucky. To maintain legumes in grass pastures, improved red clover varieties are often overseeded in the late-winter or early-spring. In many cases seed is mixed with fertilizer and top-dressed onto pastures. Little data are available on the impact of fertilizer type or duration of exposure on the germination of raw and coated red clover seed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of two fertilizer types, muriate of potash and a blended fertilizer (urea, diammonium phosphate, and muriate of potash), and the duration of exposure (1 to 28 days) on the germination of an improved red clover variety that was raw or coated. Mixing seed with the blended fertilizer resulted in a linear decrease in germination rate for the raw seed and quadratic decrease for the coated seed. After 20 days of exposure to the blended fertilizer, the germination rate of the coated and raw seed was 0 and 60%, respectively. Combining seed with muriate of potash resulted in a linear decline in germination rate with the decline being greater for the coated seed. Overall, the rate of decrease was considerably less than that of the blended fertilizer. Results of this study indicate that seed coating enhanced the detrimental effects of fertilizer on seed germination

Impact of Fertilizer Type, Seed Coating, and Duration of Exposure on the Germination of Orchardgrass Seed

Cool-season grasses such as orchardgrass, are important components of forage systems in transition zone states like Kentucky. To maintain dense and vigorous sods, improved cool-season grass varieties are sometimes overseeded into existing stands in late-winter or early-spring. In many cases seed is mixed with fertilizer and top-dressed onto pastures. Little data are available on the impact of fertilizer type or duration of exposure on the germination of raw and coated grass seed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of two fertilizer types, muriate of potash and a blended fertilizer (urea, diammonium phosphate, and muriate of potash), and the duration of exposure (1 to 28 days) on the germination of an improved orchardgrass variety that was raw or coated. Mixing seed with the blended fertilizer resulted in a quadratic decrease in germination rate for the raw seed and coated seed. This rate of decrease was greater for the coated seed in the blended fertilizer. Combining seed with muriate of potash resulted in a linear decline in germination with the decline being similar for both the coated and raw seed. Overall, the rate of decrease was considerably less than that of the blended fertilizer. Results of this study indicate that the combination of seed coating and blended fertilizer had the most detrimental impact on orchardgrass germination