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fertilizing sheep pasture


Jan B
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Due to the lack of sufficient rain thus far this spring in the area of Massachusetts that I live in (close to the coast) the grass in the sheep pasture has been very slow to grow. I am going to have the soil tested and, based on the test results, may have to add fertilizer. The U Mass. testing lab does a variety of soil tests and I am looking for some guidance on what to test for. I can have a standard soil test done that includes pH, Buffer pH, extractable nutrients, extractable heavy metals, cation exchange capacity and percent base saturation. Is there anything else that I should be testing for. Also, what is a good all around fertilizer to use that won't be too costly? I would appreciate any advice that I can get.

Thanks,

Jan (in W.Newbury, MA)

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Hi Jan,

 

That standard package should do you. The only thing you don't mention that I would want to know is the level of organic matter in the soil, which can help you decide what species of grass and legumes to try to establish, and give you some guidance on whether you need to apply compost or manure in addition to soluable fertilizer. They'll ask you what your intended crop is; I don't remember if UMass has a pasture option or not. If not, chose a grass/legume hay.

 

Unfortunately there's no such thing as a good all around fertilizer that won't be too costly. I've heard reports of urea (47 percent nitrogen, and a major component of most grass fertilizers) going for as much as $800/ton. At that price, it would be nearly $100 per acre to apply 200 pounds of N per acre, which is a fairly common recommendation for grass hay.

 

You might also want to consider changing your grazing practices; no amount of fertilizer is going to make the grass grow without moisture. It's a little counterintuitive, but you want to concentrate your animals into a very dense mob in small paddocks and move them very rapidly -- every day or even morning and night. You want them to clean up everything in very short order, leaving very little residue. While this would seem to stress the plants, the fact that you're moving them so quickly in small paddocks means that a.) the plants have a longer time to recover before animals return, and b.) that no regrowth is grazed. Forget about the "take-half-leave-half" rule that you may have heard. Graze the snot out of a tiny area, then keep the sheep off it for as long as you can -- at least three weeks and six would be better.

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It's a little counterintuitive, but you want to concentrate your animals into a very dense mob in small paddocks and move them very rapidly -- every day or even morning and night. You want them to clean up everything in very short order, leaving very little residue. While this would seem to stress the plants, the fact that you're moving them so quickly in small paddocks means that a.) the plants have a longer time to recover before animals return, and b.) that no regrowth is grazed.

 

This is totally true. We did this last year - we had thirty ewes and lambs on one acre or less, and moved them every day over about 14 acres, until the drought really hit in the summer and we ended up simply dry lotting and feeding hay. We didn't have quite the rest time that would have been nice, but this year we've had an incredible bounce back, with very little additives to the soil.

 

Our landlord is shocked - he just commented Saturday that he's never seen the grass grow this thick. :D He complained a lot last year about the "unsightly" electronet, the sheep grazing the "yahd", and the fairly regular escape adventures we had as the soil got so dry the electronet became pretty much useless. But now he's a believer and he wants us to "do" the other twenty acres as well, this year. Sure, if he buys us more e-net and a solar charger! :rolleyes:

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Thanks for the info Becca and Bill. I'll have the standard soil test with organic matter done and then go from there. I noticed today, while collecting the soil samples, that the soil seems to be very compacted. Any suggestions for rectifying that or is that not necessary?

Jan (still waiting for those showers that were forecast for yesterday and today)

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Generally compaction will improve as the forage improves. A vigorous growing sod creates lots of little air pockets and water channels down into the soil. In our climate, the moisture in the soil freezes in the winter, fracturing the compacted layer on the top. A plow pan (down eight to 16 inches) is much harder to deal with, but plants like dandelions, chicory, and alfalfa will bust up a plow pan with their long tap roots. Earthworms are excellent de-compactors for both shallow and deep pans.

 

These are long-term processes. If you want to rectify it quicker, you could hire a farmer with a chisel plow to come in and rip some channels.

 

Some soil types will get very hard when they're dry. Clay loams are particularly bad. But just because they're hard doesn't mean that they're compacted. Sometimes a little moisture will open them right back up.

 

Drive over your fields as little as possible, and restrict your traffic to specific paths whenever possible. Even ATVs compact the soil somewhat.

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Better yet, see if you can find someone with a pasture renovator. It's like a chisel plow with straight disks or a drag harrow behind, and many of them have bins to spread fertilizer and/or seed so everything can be done in one pass. Be careful about breaking up the soil in high erosion areas without water breaks, straw, etc.

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