1. Matching Forage Fertility Management to Your Cow Herd
Brian C. Pugh
Area Agronomist
OSU Extension

2. What is the most efficient forage harvesting tool?
Scythe
Round Baler
C. Bessie

3. Is Fertilizer Too Expensive?

4. Fertilizing Vs. Feeding
Compare the cost of fertilizing vs. purchasing hay.
Assumes stocking density has been determined
Assume a cow needs 43/lbs forage per day.
Compare the cost of feeding:
43 lbs/day of grazed forage to
43 lbs/day of hay for 1 cow.

5. Cost for 1200 lbs Round Bale ($/bale)
$50
$45
$40
$35
$30
$25
$20
$15
Cost for 1200 lbs Round Bale ($/bale)
$/head/day expense for 1 cow
43 lbs X cost of grass
Cost of Urea $/ton

6. When the column is above the line: It is cheaper to feed hay
$/bale
$50
$45
$40
$35
$30
$25
$20
$15
Cost/head/day for
43 $35/bale
When the column is above the line:
It is cheaper to feed hay
When the column is below the line:
It is cheaper to feed grazed forage
Cost/head/day for
43 lbs/day of grazed forage
With 50 lbs N (109 lbs $350/ton)

7. Hay vs. Fertilized Forage Quality? $/bale $55 $50 $45 $40 $35 $30 $25
Urea $514
DAP $571
$/bale
$55
$50
$45
$40
$35
$30
$25
$27.95/ton
$16.76/bale

8. Am. Nitrate @ $400/ton or Urea @ $500/ton
Nitrogen Costs
When buying fertilizer maker sure to price it by the pound of nitrogen not by $/ton.
Example: Which is a better buy?
Am. $400/ton or $500/ton
Ammonium Nitrate
2000 lbs x .34 = 680 lbs N
$400/680 = $0.588
Urea
2000 lbs x .46 = 920 lbs N
$500/920 = $0.543

9. Nitrogen Fertilizer is Just too Expensive! Right?
Urea - $514/T ($0.559/lb N)
1 Ton Forage = $27.95 Nitrogen
($16.77 per 1200 lb bale)
What does a 1200 lb bale cost you in local area?
$25 to $30 ??? , $20 ???
At $60/ton = $36 per 1200lb Bale.
Even purchased at $20 dollars per bale its cheaper to grow it !

10. Is Fertilizer Feasible Under Risk of Drought?

11. What happens if we don’t get summer rains?
Many producers rely on 5 months of Bermuda production to supply the cow’s needs for the whole year.
What happens if we don’t get summer rains?

12. Fertility during drought?
Effects of Fertility On Degraded Bermudagrass Cover. Muskogee County, 2012
Bermuda = 31%
WS Grasses = 36%
Broadleaf = 33%

13. Fertility beats drought!
This was with 2.97” of rainfall!
No history of bad weed problems or overgrazing.

14. This was with 4.08” of rainfall!
Half the production of 2013, but better than 400 lbs of Bermuda/A!

15. N Source Effects On Yield Plots harvested on Oct 17th
Kinta, OK 2005
Brian Pugh & Chris Rice
7.40” Rainfall
Statistically no significant differences!
Plots harvested on Oct 17th
6.05” Rainfall
3.95” Rainfall
Application of 100 units N – 294 lb/ac amm. nitrate, 217 #/ac urea, or 217 lb/ac of urea+Agrotain.

16. Rainfall for Payne County (1981-2011)
Fertilize
warm season grass
Fertilize
cool season grass
Fertilize
Warm or cool season grass
36.75 inches average total rainfall

17. How Much Fertilizer?

18. OSU Rules of Thumb - Fertility
It takes 50 lbs actual N to make 1 additional ton of warm season grass
It takes 60 lbs actual N to make 1 additional ton of cool season grass
For E. OK, 1 acre will produce 1 ton of forage per year without fertility!

19. Increase fertility or decrease stocking rate?
How do we determine what will be in our best interest when determining dollars returned?

20. Fertilizing With a Goal in Mind.
Conduct a Forage Budget to determine forage production needed for the year.
Set production goals for the whole place, taking into account the production potential of soils in each pasture.
Put fertilizer resources where and when they will do the most good.

21. Forage Budgeting.
A forage budget is simply determining how much forage you need to grow in order to supply your cows with the groceries they need each day for 365 days of the year!
Its not exact, buts its closer than guessing.
It also allows you to utilize fertility to grow the forage you will need during the wetter periods of the year and thereby avoid forage shortages during a droughty summer.
It should also help to reduce the need to supplement forage supplies with expensive purchased hay in times of shortage.

22. Unfertilized pasture = 8 Acres
Forage Budgeting.(F-2584)
8 tons forage/cow/year?
Unfertilized pasture = 8 Acres
Livestock description__________
Total number of days__________
Dry matter consumption__________
Lbs/animal_______ x #animals_______=
Total # forage required_________/2000 =
_________tons of forage required.
1200# cow
365
43 lbs/day
15695
100
1,569,500
785
At best only assume 70 % utilization of standing forage.

23. Currently running 100 cows @ 4 acres/cow
Currently running acres/cow. Buying hay (or baling from another field) to make it through 150 winter days in avg year. Feeding hay 180 days in drought year.
150 acres
125 acres
North
West
125 acres
South

24. Forage Budget - Current Pasture.
Acreage
Yield/A
Proj. Yield (tons)
West
Bermuda
150 1
North
125
South
Berm/Ryegr
Total 400 tons of supplied forage
Avg years need ~500 round bales (5/cow), dry years having to purchase an additional 150 round bales.
= $15,000 to $19,500 per winter (just hay).

25. Determining Needed Forage.
Budget cow side = 785 tons
Current prod. = 400 tons
Currently 385 tons short on needed forage to supply needs of 100 cows for the year.
Causes us to purchase quite a lot of hay in poor years.

26. What if we fertilize West pasture with 50 lbs
What if we fertilize West pasture with 50 lbs. N (108 lbs Urea)/Acre in May and fertilize North pasture in late August with 50 lbs. N/Acre to stockpile Bermudagrass for Nov/Dec grazing?
150 acres
125 acres
North
West
125 acres
South

27. Forage Budget - Current Pasture.
Acreage
Yield/A
Proj. Yield (tons)
West
Bermuda
150 2
300
North
125
250
South
Berm/Ryegr 1
Total 675 tons of supplied forage
50 lbs N on 275 $0.559 = $7,686 (+275 tons, $27.95/t)
Avg years need ~180 round bales (2/cow), dry years having to purchase or bale an additional 50 round bales.
= $5,400 to $6,900 per winter (just hay).

28. Determining Needed Forage.
Budget cow side = 785 tons
Projected prod. = 675 tons
Now we have gone from a 385 ton shortage to a 110 ton forage shortage for the herd.
Less hay to buy and hopefully less days to have to feed it.
There are many scenarios to play with if we utilize the budget.

29. Year Round Grazing System!
What if we moved some summer fertility for hay production to the South pasture at 60 lbs. N (130 lbs Urea)/Acre in Feb to promote ryegrass for Mar/Apr grazing? Or planted small grains for use in Jan/Feb?
Year Round Grazing System!
125 acres
150 acres
North
West
125 acres
South

30. Fertilizer Application Strategies

31. Fertility Timing – Year Round Grazing.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Excess forage; harvest as hay
Forage required
by livestock
Move a portion of fertility resources and haying cost to different time of year.
Graze Stockpiled Fescue
Graze Ryegrass
Graze Stockpiled Bermuda
Graze Bermuda Summer growth
Bale Ryegrass
Bale Bermuda
Feed hay

32. Maximum Yield/ Minimum Inputs
Soil Test for 160 acres
pH = 6.4
N = 3
P = 10
K = 355
Fertilizer Prices
DAP = $571 (50 lbs P = $31.12)
Urea = $514 (50 lbs N = $28.01)
(50 lbs. N = 1 ton additional production)
50 lbs 160 A = $
Each acre gives 1 ton
160 tons
If we fertilized everything for 1 additional ton
320 tons Total Production
50 lbs 160 A = $
Total = $ or $29.57/ton
Bermuda
Bermuda
50 lbs P
50 lbs P
50 lbs N
50 lbs N
Bermuda
Bermuda
50 lbs P
50 lbs P
50 lbs N
50 lbs N

33. Maximum Yield/ Minimum Inputs
Soil Test for 160 acres
pH = 6.4
N = 3
P = 10
K = 355
Fertilizer Prices
DAP = $571 (50 lbs P = $31.12)
Urea = $514 (50 lbs N = $28.01)
(50 lbs. N = 1 ton additional production)
50 lbs 40 A = $
Each acre gives 1 ton
160 tons
If we fertilized 40 acres for 4 additional tons
320 tons Total Production
200 lbs 40 A = $
Total = $ or $17.90/ton
Bermuda
Bermuda
50 lbs P
200 lbs N
What if 40 A had sufficient P?
Don’t try to “build up” your entire property!
Bermuda
Bermuda
40% less money for same yield!

34. Summary.
Fertilizer costs might look high, but we can still grow forage cheaper than we can buy it!
Making the cow do the work is cheaper and easier than us providing for her.
Fertility can increase yields even in dry years. In fact, fertility can prevent significant stand loss and herd liquidation.

35. Summary.
By getting a better handle on how much forage we need to produce for the year, we may be able to reduce input costs associated with providing forage off the back of a truck.
Forage budgeting allows us to tailor our fertility applications to the times of the year when we get the water we need to grow the forage required by the herd.
Focus on your best soils first and double up!

36. Brian C. Pugh OSU Area Agronomist Northeast District
Questions?
Brian C. Pugh
OSU Area Agronomist
Northeast District
Stan Fimple
OSU Extension Educator
Pawnee County

38. Alternative Fertilizer Trial (Sea Salts)
Cody Linker & Brian C. Pugh
Lincoln Co. Oklahoma

39. Fertility Treatments Urea @ 217 lbs/A Sea 90 @ 5 lbs/A foliar
Sea 50 lbs/A broadcast
Sea Minerals from AR 4 lbs/A foliar
Urea Sea 90 foliar
Urea SMFA foliar

40. Projected Yield & Nutrient Cost
Select N Source based on cost of actual N/lb!
Product
N %
Rate
Applied N
Est. Yield+/A
$/lb N
Urea 46 20
9.1
360
$0.88
217
100
4000
Sea90
0 (.05) 5
.0025
0.1
$2000 50
.025 1
SMFA
.02 4
.0008
0.032
$10000
This is based on OKC cattle prices and fertilizer prices on May 18, Gross sales value includes 90% calf crop, 525 pound weaning weight, ($110/cwt.and 10% cull cow sales($50/cwt) for gross sales per cow of $569. The hay expense is custom harvest for 2 round bales per cow ($45). Litter is valued at $37. Assumed 40 pounds of both P and K annually where N is applied. At the 5, 4, 3 acre stocking rates a 2X N rate per acre is used and only ½ of the acreage fertilized to save on P and K expense. All 3 acres receive litter in the 2T example.
The last column is the amount left per cow above forage costs for other cow expenses such as vet-med, labor, land, supplemental feed and mineral, and equipment.
The ($22) below 2T litter is the amount that can be paid for litter to equal the commercial fertilizer price on an annual basis. This does not value the P and K available for improving soil test P values.
7 year pay at 8% on $700 cow is $135, overhead at $75. $209 subtracted from last column - ?
16.40 per acre income on native versus $36/A income on 3A/cow option.
Both treatments cost $8 / Acre
Urea $811/ton
Sea 90 $1/lb
SMFA $2/lb

41. 217 lbs Urea produced 3.6 times more forage than the untreated check
LSD = 764 lbs
OSU Rule of Thumb – Each 50 units N applied will yield 1 additional ton of WSG
A 100 lb N application as Urea (217 lbs) increased yield approximately 2 tons
217 lbs Urea produced 3.6 times more forage than the untreated check
Sea Salt products made no difference in yield when applied per label
Conditions in 2013 were good for Bermudagrass growth

42. Forage Expense in Relation to Fertility Control Yield @ 1677 lbs/A
TRT
Rate lbs/A
Yield lbs/A
Yield Improv.
TRT $/A
$/Additional Ton
Sea90 50
1470
-207
$50 NA
SMFA 4
1765 88 $8 5
2331
654 $5
Urea
19.8
2766
1089
$14.70
217
6120
4443
$88
$39.61
U+SMFA
217+4
5391
3714
$96
$51.69
U+Sea90
217+5
5783
4106
$93
$45.30
This is based on OKC cattle prices and fertilizer prices on May 18, Gross sales value includes 90% calf crop, 525 pound weaning weight, ($110/cwt.and 10% cull cow sales($50/cwt) for gross sales per cow of $569. The hay expense is custom harvest for 2 round bales per cow ($45). Litter is valued at $37. Assumed 40 pounds of both P and K annually where N is applied. At the 5, 4, 3 acre stocking rates a 2X N rate per acre is used and only ½ of the acreage fertilized to save on P and K expense. All 3 acres receive litter in the 2T example.
The last column is the amount left per cow above forage costs for other cow expenses such as vet-med, labor, land, supplemental feed and mineral, and equipment.
The ($22) below 2T litter is the amount that can be paid for litter to equal the commercial fertilizer price on an annual basis. This does not value the P and K available for improving soil test P values.
7 year pay at 8% on $700 cow is $135, overhead at $75. $209 subtracted from last column - ?
16.40 per acre income on native versus $36/A income on 3A/cow option.

43. Alternative Fertilizer Summary
Base fertility on lbs supplied nutrient
Over a century of University research
Put a sharp pencil to new “cures”
Try a demo strip
Buyer Beware!
Liquid Lime, Microbial soil trt, fish oil
If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is!