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Staff
Eddie Funderburg, Ed.D. News
Growing up in Louisiana, this bayou boy loved fishing, football and a good shrimp etouffee. However, all these loves took a backseat to agriculture.
Noble Research Institute consultation clients William and Karen Payne transformed
an abused farm into a showplace ranch.
Small grains breeding has been an integral part of the Noble Research Institute work since the early 1950s.
Joe and Jeannie Dobson return to their roots to enjoy the family land after years of city life.
There are many thoughts regarding how much nitrogen is lost from applying urea on pastures and hay fields. If applied incorrectly, up to 40 percent of the nitrogen applied as urea can be vaporized and lost as a gas.
The Noble Research Institute has changed its contract laboratory for analytical services (soil, water, manure, lime and fertilizer) from Ward Laboratories, Inc., in Kearney, Neb., to Servi-Tech Laboratory Services in Amarillo, Texas.
December can be a fairly slow month regarding soil and crops issues, and it may be a good time to plan your strategy for the use of fertilizer and herbicides in 2006.
Lime and fertilizer make up a substantial portion of the costs of producing winter pasture. Lime may or may not be needed - only a soil test can tell you for sure. If lime is recommended, its application can pay good dividends.
Organic matter serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water in the soil, aids in reducing compaction, and increases water infiltration. Yet, it's often ignored and neglected.
A well-managed and properly stocked pasture should not need herbicides every year. A little time spent scouting may save you a lot of unnecessary time and money on spraying when your weed population is not high enough to justify it.
When two or more products are physically incompatible, an emulsion may form.
Why do you need to take a soil sample? How do you take a good soil sample? How often do you need to sample?
A high percentage of the grazing land in our area is native grass. Most ranchers do not fertilize native grass because it is widely thought that it is unprofitable to do so. In fact, one of the appealing characteristics of native grass systems is that they do relatively well with minimal inputs.
There are many varieties of bermudagrass, and they respond to nitrogen fertilizer in different ways. A research study was conducted to see if fertilizer could be used more efficiently by fertilizing different varieties to their optimum response rate.
Most ranchers are aware that greenbrier can be a problem in pastures and rangeland, and is hard to control. There are various ideas on how to control greenbrier.
Let's say you look at the results from your soil sample and see there is a recommendation for lime. You check around and discover this is going to cost $40-$50 per acre. A normal person would question whether the value received from liming is worth the cost.
June is usually the best month to control blackberries in pastures and rangeland in the Southern Great Plains.
Some people want to control brush, but don't have a sprayer, have too much brush to use a sprayer or just want to do selective brush control. There are several options, each with advantages and disadvantages.
In April 2001, I wrote an article on high nitrogen prices. Ten years later, the question persists, and, yes, nitrogen fertilizer prices are even higher.
Since it looks like wheat may be $8 per bushel at harvest in 2009, many producers are considering planting it strictly for grain. This can be profitable in some situations with good management, cost control and high yields. Unfortunately, costs have increased at a very fast pace and have diminished profit margins.
With high protein prices, many people are thinking about growing alfalfa, some for the first time ever. While alfalfa can be very profitable, there are some common mistakes that can take you from profitability to loss quickly.
There has been increased interest in using poultry litter as fertilizer since fertilizer prices have skyrocketed. Poultry litter has long been used near the point of production, but high transportation costs for its low analysis has limited its use to within about 50 miles of poultry houses.
Spring has arrived, and many ranchers' thoughts turn to killing weeds. Before you hook up the trusty (or in some cases, rusty) sprayer and give 'er a go, think about the these things.
As we approach the end of 2011, many soil sample results have considerably higher than average amounts of nitrates, especially in wheat and winter pasture fields.
Summer is a good time to identify problem weeds and work out a weed-control plan for the following year.
The contributions of soil organic matter and how to maintain or increase it.
Following these steps should help you develop a better nutrient management program through use of soil testing.
At the time of writing, urea costs about $750 per ton. This means that a pound of nitrogen from urea costs about 82 cents. This is a very high price and leads to the logical question, "Is it worth the cost to fertilize winter pasture for stockers?" I'll try to answer this question, but let's define the ground rules.
I've had more calls on sandbur control in 2014 than I can ever remember. While it is obviously too late to do anything about them this year, plans can be made for next year.
Cattle producers and equine enthusiasts in the Southern Great Plains rely heavily on introduced warm-season grasses for their winter hay needs. Primarily, these grasses are either bermudagrass or old world bluestem varieties.
Sometimes, a rancher takes a soil sample, sends it to a laboratory and the recommendation calls for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The rancher knows nitrogen should be applied near the time of...
Sandbur generally behave as summer annual grasses, although they will sometimes act as weak perennials. While they are different species, they all share the common trait of being undesirable in...
Western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya) is considered one of the most common weeds in pastures and rangeland in the Southern Great Plains. It is an aggressive competitor with grasses and is generally...
When ranchers think about planting an introduced summer perennial forage variety, there are usually two questions. One is, "Do hybrid varieties that do well in research tests with heavy fertilization...
Good weed control can be achieved in pastures and hay fields if attention to detail is followed. It is a matter of targeting the correct weed, at the proper growth stage, with a labeled herbicide,...
Good weed control can be achieved in pastures and hay fields if attention to detail is followed. It is a matter of targeting the correct weed, at the proper growth stage, with a labeled herbicide,...
Fertilization of native grass fields is generally not recommended in the Southern Great Plains region of the United States. The primary reason for not fertilizing native grass is the belief that the...
Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox L.) is a native woody vine or shrub. It is a member of the Smilacaceae, formerly Liliaceae, family which includes approximately 12 to 15 species in the Smilax genus.
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A well prepared seedbed is critical to successfully establish bermudagrass from seed. A good seedbed should be firm, smooth, weed-free, and free of holes and ridges.
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Fertilizer prices have fallen in recent months. Unfortunately, so have cattle prices. Does it pay to fertilize bermudagrass pastures to increase carrying capacity in times like these? To answer this...
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) has probably been grazed for as many years as it has been planted. However, most of the grazing has been done as a minor component of a hay production system and not as a...
Eddie Funderburg, Ed.D., senior soils and crops consultant, reviews ways to control cool-season weeds, including ryegrass, thistles and henbit, in perennial warm-season pastures.
Eddie Funderburg, Ed.D., senior soils and crops consultant, presents a thorough overview of bermudagrass, a warm-season perennial grass, including recommendations for its establishment and management as a forage and hay crop.
Eddie Funderburg, Ed.D., senior soils and crops consultant, offers a comprehensive summary of data on prussic acid, nitrate poisoning and grass tetany to aid beef cattle producers in health management and herd protection.
Since there is economic risk in applying fertilizer, we generally do not recommend applying fertilizer unless there is a significant advantage to doing so. Therefore, the general recommendation of not fertilizing native grass is correct in most instances.
If you’re ready to start soil testing, but aren’t sure where to send your samples, you can send them to Noble Research Institute’s Ag Testing Services.
Not all labs report the same information in a soil test, but most will report soil pH, any needed lime recommendations, and soil test phosphorus and potassium.