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Rivers, MB | Thanks to all who replied.
I can understand the economics thing. If there's no cash for fertilizer, then its probably the first thing to drop. However, as clicker mentioned above, you will pay at some point in time. That's probably the key response right there.
Many mentioned manure as the answer. I'd agree. However, many of these fields that I've seen first hand were the fields that never got manure because it was the hay field a few miles from the yard and the manure from the barns got spread on the closest field to the yard. A translocation of nutrients. We farm a 300 ac field that was broken up into hay fields/pasture etc. Just by looking at the soil tests, you can tell which one was the alfalfa field for years and which field was the pasture.
I'd also agree with the poster that talked about organic matter. Soils with high organic matter are very forgiving when it comes to fertilizer applications. But, at some point, we have to replace what we're removing. If we're not, its not sustainable.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist when it comes to fertilizer removal rates. They may have been calculated/researched by the fertilizer makers. But if they were manipulated for sales reasons, surely some extension/government agronomist/farme would have caught on to the fact they were way out. I just spent the morning with our agronomist going over our soil tests. Alot can be learned from those tests and show what's actually going on.
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help me understand cattle farmers mentality
