weebarney
Well-Known Member
How useful are they? I'm a bit paranoid after reading TrasaM's post in TR. Leaf test or soil test and who's best to use? I'm pretty sure my pasture will be rye and clover as it was used for beef cattle before i got it.
pasture analysis
- Thread starter weebarney
- Start date
Polos Mum
Well-Known Member
We had our soil tested, paid £25 sent of a plastic bad of soil and got results a week later - all very simple and pretty cheap. Interesting results and we've changed what we put on the fields this spring because of it - too early to say whether it's made a difference but it did point out we're massively high on magnseium so my chilled ponies might be more to do with our soil than my management !!
criso
Coming over here & taking your jobs since 1900
I had forage analysis done and is really useful as we are incredibly overloaded with Calcium and Manganese so I adapt my supplements and what I feed to take this into account.
As I understand it, if you do the grass itself you get a more accurate picture of what it is taking up from the soil and effectively what your horses are eating.
I used Forageplus for an all in package but the lab it goes off to is Sciantec so not sure if they will do it direct.
You can work that out without an analysis just by looking at the grass heads and if there is any variety there.
As I understand it, if you do the grass itself you get a more accurate picture of what it is taking up from the soil and effectively what your horses are eating.
I used Forageplus for an all in package but the lab it goes off to is Sciantec so not sure if they will do it direct.
You can work that out without an analysis just by looking at the grass heads and if there is any variety there.
weebarney
Well-Known Member
I dont know the difference, I know clover and thats definitely there but dont know the difference between all the others. We get half the field fertilised to make haylage so I'm extra paranoid about balancing everything out for them(I dont know what it is the farmer puts on either, can ask him though).
Say the field got fertilised this month with the nitrogen type fertiliser, cut it a couple months later then let the horses on it would there still be the effects of the fertiliser coming through then?
Say the field got fertilised this month with the nitrogen type fertiliser, cut it a couple months later then let the horses on it would there still be the effects of the fertiliser coming through then?
Alec Swan
...
I've had all my grass tested, in leaf form. It's invaluable, I've found. If you google Thompson and Josef, in Norwich, they'll give you grass leaf collecting instructions (it's simplicity itself), a full analysis in a printed and graph like form (idiot proof, which I found useful!), and treatment recommendations to counteract deficiencies. Mineral uptakes can be influenced by each other, so for instance, a high manganese content, can block the uptake of an already low copper presence, for instance. T&J are competent agronomists too.
Good grassland management starts with testing.
Alec.
Good grassland management starts with testing.
Alec.
criso
Coming over here & taking your jobs since 1900
The soil and forage analysis don't tell you that, they tell you mineral levels or nutritional levels.
When the seed heads come through on the grass pick some and look online.
This site has pictures.
http://www.pasture4horses.com/grasses/
But even if you find it is full of Ryegrass there is not alot you can do about it as it is unlikely to be dug and reseeded.
I don't know how long the effects of nitrogen fertilising will last but it will have an effect (not necessarily a positive one) on the minerals that the grass takes up so you would probably reanalyse at some point after.
criso
Coming over here & taking your jobs since 1900
Was that targeted for horses? The printout I got had a very user friendly colour coded graph but the low/high levels were based on cattle requirements so you still have to look at the raw numbers at the end.
Alec Swan
...
From memory, the report which I received wasn't specific about being animal based or influenced, it was a general listing of the available levels, and it would be up to the buyer to decide upon how to supplement the animals concerned. It must be borne in mind that mineral presence is different from mineral availability, and as earlier, there are those minerals which will block the exit of others. It isn't rocket science, but if as I
o), you don't understand it all, advice needs to be sought.Alec.
criso
Coming over here & taking your jobs since 1900
Definitely, I paid to get recommendations too.
If you looked at my printout you would see Zinc as average but I have to feed high levels to counteract Manganese and I know the levels from this lab are for cattle.
Just curious if another lab was producing printouts that were more horse orientated.
If you looked at my printout you would see Zinc as average but I have to feed high levels to counteract Manganese and I know the levels from this lab are for cattle.
Just curious if another lab was producing printouts that were more horse orientated.
Polos Mum
Well-Known Member
We had our tests done by Progreen (Lancrop Labs) and they gave us our results and also a guideline for equine grazing which was very useful, then an interpretation (red bad, green good) and a comment - what they think we should add/ use and any key interactions (our high magnesium is likely to interfere with uptake of potassium etc.)