Field Day! Pasture Management for Horse Owners

Register at https://horsepastures.eventbrite.com

Location: Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Rd. Raeford, NC 28376

This hands-on field day will cover rotational grazing, pasture, and hay management.

Amazing Grazing will be there to discuss the benefits of one-wire temporary fencing.

We will discuss soil reports, fertilization, and weeds during pasture management.

Hay management will cover the nutritional values of different types of hay, understanding of
forage analysis,

and how hay management can improve your pasture health.

Spring and Soil Amendments

It is past April 1, so that means soil testing has returned to NO CHARGE with the NCDA lab.  Like, so many other things, the cost of lime and fertilizer has increased quite a bit over the past couple of years.  It is natural for pasture managers to look for ways to save money.  Soil sampling and following the recommendations for soil amendments is one of the most cost-effective tools we have for pasture management.  If you have questions about what all those numbers mean when you receive that soil report, reach out to your Cooperative Extension agent.  

There are a few products out there now to claim to have a liming function but at a much cheaper price than traditional ag lime.  Again, it is only natural to look into these products due to the proposed cost savings.  However, I caution you. As is the case many times, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Here is a link to an article written by Dr. Gary Bates from the University of Tennessee addressing the science behind lime.  https://utbeef.tennessee.edu/forage-management-its-just-chemistry/

I'll also share a story concerning someone trying to save some money on pasture fertilization.  A farm store had a "mix" of fertilizer in their storage area.  It was a combination of fertilizers that were cleaned out of their spreader truck.  There was no analysis on this fertilizer but it was cheap because they needed it out of their way.  Someone bought it and spread it on their pastures.  Costs included the reduced price of the fertilizer plus time and fuel to spread it.  A few weeks passed and the pastures did not look very green and did not seem to be growing well in spite of decent rainfall.  This producer is most likely going to have to go back and spread more fertilizer, particularly nitrogen, to get decent production.  So, in the end, how much money was really saved?

Fertilizer and lime are expensive.  Following the soil report recommendations so that you are applying what is needed and not over-applying some nutrients and/or under-applying others is your most cost effective means to pasture management when it come to nutrients.