{"id":318,"date":"2019-12-06T09:16:41","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T14:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/?p=318"},"modified":"2019-12-06T09:16:41","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T14:16:41","slug":"fertilizing-winter-annuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/2019\/12\/fertilizing-winter-annuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Fertilizing winter annuals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Jeremy Kichler<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Colquitt County CEC<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em>Winter annual forages can be very expensive to establish\u00a0and maintain.\u00a0 Extension budgets estimate that total costs\u00a0of winter annual forages is around $200 per acre.\u00a0 Is it\u00a0possible to reduce forage production costs without\u00a0decreasing winter annual forage yield? The first step is\u00a0to soil test and follow those fertility recommendations.\u00a0\u00a0If producers apply fertilizer and\/or lime without soil\u00a0sampling, there is a chance that they may not be applying\u00a0enough fertilizer or lime to maximize forage yield.\u00a0 On\u00a0the other hand, there is a chance the producer could be\u00a0over applying fertilizer inputs in order to meet forage\u00a0goals which could result in wasting money.<\/p>\n<p>Soil pH is important to maintain root development and to make sure that nutrients are available to the forages.\u00a0 If soil pH drops below 6.0, nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium become less available which is undesirable.\u00a0 If the soil pH needs to be adjusted up then apply lime according to soil sample recommendations a few months before establishing forages. Soil pH for winter annual forages needs to be around 6.0 according to UGA Soil Test Recommendations.\u00a0 It is recommended to soil sample hay fields every year and pastures once every three years.<\/p>\n<p>If your winter annual forages consist of rye, wheat, or oats then apply about 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre during the growing season.\u00a0 The forages can utilize the nitrogen more efficiently when it is applied multiple times.\u00a0 It is recommended to apply 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre at planting and another 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre in late winter before spring growth begins.\u00a0 If ryegrass is in the mixture then consider another 50 pounds of nitrogen in the early spring for a total of 150 pounds of nitrogen. Ryegrass has a longer grazing season when compared to other winter annual forage grasses so a spring application of nitrogen will help extend the grazing period.<\/p>\n<p>What if I have annual clovers in a mixture with small grains the forage program?\u00a0 If annual clovers, such as arrowleaf or crimson clover, are in the forage program then consider applying 30 to 50 pounds nitrogen per acre at planting. The winter annual grasses can possibly shade out and compete with the clover if higher rates of nitrogen are applied at planting. If the winter annual forage stand contains less than 40 to 50% clover, apply 50 pounds nitrogen per acre in late winter or early spring.\u00a0 If you are overseeding clovers without winter annual grasses into summer perennial forages then no nitrogen is recommended. If clovers are being used in the forage program please use the correct inoculant to start the nitrogen fixation process.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any questions please contact your local county agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jeremy Kichler Colquitt County CEC \u00a0Winter annual forages can be very expensive to establish\u00a0and maintain.\u00a0 Extension budgets estimate that total costs\u00a0of winter annual forages is around $200 per acre.\u00a0 Is it\u00a0possible to reduce forage production costs without\u00a0decreasing winter annual forage yield? The first step is\u00a0to soil test and follow those fertility recommendations.\u00a0\u00a0If producers apply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,126],"tags":[127,39],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cool-season-annuals","category-fertilization","tag-fertilizing","tag-winter-annuals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/forageteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}