Airing August 18 - 19, 2005
Alfalfa Planting Tips
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. We have now entered the alfalfa planting season. And very nicely, as if on schedule, we've started getting some rain and showers. So as you get ready to get that new alfalfa planted, here's some planting tips. If you haven't gotten that soil test done yet, HURRY. If we need to raise that soil pH above 6.3, we have to get that lime worked in ahead of planting. Always plant certified seed that has been innoculated. There may be the correct nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil to do the job, but why risk it? And especially at this time of year, keep that inoculant cool up until you start planting. It can get hot enough inside a pickup to damage the viability of the bacterian inoculant. Use a planting rate of 12 - 15 pounds of pure live seed per acre. Use a starter fertilizer unless the soil test shows that you have over 60 pounds of available phosphorus. The old rule of thumb was 100 pounds of 18-46-0 at planting time and I don't think that that is a bad idea at all. The young alfalfa plants need some nitrogen to get started with since it takes a while for the bacteria to get busy with their business. Don't bury the seed. One fourth to one half inch deep is adequate unles syou are in sandy soils and then only ¾ of an inch deep. These are small seedlings and we don't want to give them a decent funeral, we just want them to get snuggled into the soil. That seed to soil contact is very important so a firm seedbed is a must. And once the stand starts to get established, what should we want to see for a stand? A good new stand should have 50 to 55 stems per square foot. This would translate to about 15 to 20 plants per square foot. This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
Fertilizing options
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. I don't care how you slice it, the price of fertilizer, especially nitrogen fertilizer, is inexplicably tied to the price of petroleum. The key reason being is that most nitrogen fertilizer sources get their start as natural gas. Guess what the future holds for fertilizer prices? It ain't pretty, let me tell you. So there is a lot of interest in how do we start planning to reduce fertilizer costs. Unfortunately, the optimum rate for fertilizing crops is price independent. In other words, if you are looking at optimum yield, the point of deflection on that silly graph doesn't move left or right depending on the price of fertilizer. BUT there may be ways to stretch your fertilizer dollar further. That will be a preiodic theme in the coming months of these radio programs. The critical management consideration right now is soil testing. We'll be planting wheat in another six weeks, or less in some cases. So nitrogen fertilizer may very well be getting applied pre plant, or you may decide to gamble and wait to see if the price goes down through the fall and winter - right - as if that'll happen. So let's take a nitrogen test and I mean a good nitrogen test of your fields going into wheat. Do you need a full 24 inch profile for wheat? No, probably not - but I would hope that you would go at least 12 inches deep and consider going down to 16 to 18 inches. And then don't do that in one spot - I can show you some really bizarre results from single point profile testing for nitrogen. Take at least 4 profiles to blend together and possibly 6 to 8 depending on the field. Then let's plug that into the formula and fertilize to meet the potential of these new wheat varieties, but don't apply more than we need! This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.
This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.
This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.
This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
This is Ag Outlook 2005 on 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent.
This has been Ag Outlook 2005 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I'm Chuck Otte.
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