| Hay Wilson in TX - 10/13/2011 05:25
It is my belief that I see better potassium levels in my alfalfa. Lower levels of alfalfa &/or bermudagrass potassium results in poor summer drought response which equals yield drag.
I have taken good notes on your comments in regards to K and drought tolerace in alfalfa because we have those same summer slumps as you....just a matter of when, how hot, and for how long it lasts. This summer has given me an ulcer or at least a sick feeling anyway after coming through 08 and 09 which were relatively mild in comparison! A few more weeks of good growth further into a drought and good recovery is all we ask. K-Mag is hard to come by down here....KCl prevelant. Litter and lime seem to be the big ticket for my area....$38-40 per ton each turn-key job.
14+% CP in bermuda was/is very commom here with litter apps on hay fields...protein supplement wouldn't pencil. For summer stockers, 0.5-0.75% BW of corn (cracked or whole) would make $$....with BER (a C4 grass), rumen energy (low NDF solubles) always first limiting...probably not economical at today's corn price...even by-product is high. One thing I noticed back then on research farms and now on our farm is that cattle turned into a new paddock know where the crabgrass, goosegrass and bardyard grass grow and eat that first before moving to bermuda. One of Lynn's pet sayings which always peeved the breeders was, "You market your forage through cattle and not your geneitcs!"
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Gypsum
