Soil and grass analysis

[spacie1977]

I've read somewhere it's a good idea to get a soil and grass analysis done when converting a field from general agricultural use to equestrian use. Does anyone know why/the benefits of this, and how to go about arranging it? Is it a case of sending off samples yourself like you do for worm counts, or does someone come to take samples?

 

[milliepops]

We moved into a new property last year and didn't know the history or profile of the grazing.
I used these guys http://www.progreen.co.uk/soil-analysis/soil-analysis-for-paddocks/cat_103.html which was cheap and very fast - I took the soil samples and sent them off.
The results were very interesting and useful - our land is sky high for some things, very low for others, and the company advised the type of treatment that we would need to even things up for horse grazing.

 

[spacie1977]

That's fab thank you! Someone told me in my area the soul tends to be low in magnesium so I tried adding magnesium to my horse which has worked wonders with his spookiness. It would be interesting to find out what other mineral deficiencies could result in because I don't know a huge amount amount paddock maintenance.

 

[outinthefens88]

We moved into a new property last year and didn't know the history or profile of the grazing.
I used these guys http://www.progreen.co.uk/soil-analysis/soil-analysis-for-paddocks/cat_103.html which was cheap and very fast - I took the soil samples and sent them off.
The results were very interesting and useful - our land is sky high for some things, very low for others, and the company advised the type of treatment that we would need to even things up for horse grazing.

Can't say too much here, but for soil smapling/analysis as above Progreen are the guys to talk too - its surprising how many people spend a fortune on feeds and balancers, then neglect the fact the 90% of the time the horse is in the field, eating the grass, which may be totally 'unbalanced'.

Evening the levels can sometimes be easier said than done, but the analysis they provide helps to pinpoint the most crucial ones (magnesium being one!). Always amazes me how many people still fertilize with 'whatever the local farmer has' and wonder why their grass is either growing round their ears in 3 days (pure nitrogen fert - yes I have seen it done!) or looking knackered (something totally unsuitable).....

 

[Alec Swan]

It was a few years ago now when I sent some grass samples off to Thomson & Joseph in Norwich. I cut grass from various parts of the land in question, what I had sort of equalled a handful, I put it in a plastic bag and then in to a large-ish envelope, posted it, and 4 days later, back came an interesting report, complete with the vital analysis. From memory, it cost about thirty quid and it was the best thing that I could do. Acting upon their advice, the results were obvious.

It should be born in mind that when land is deficient in one particular mineral, the simple act of slinging a load of the said mineral about, is rarely the answer. It must also be remembered that minerals will have an effect upon the uptake of each other; Land which is deficient in Copper, for instance, will often be impacted upon heavily by Iron, and it's the Iron content which prevents the uptake of Copper.

Generally, rather than treating land with the deficient mineral, it's better to supplement the animal with what the grass lacks. Focused mineral tubs are considerably cheaper than treating land which will have to be carried out, annually. Every year, and because we're deficient in Magnesium, so I offer my ewes Magnesium tubs, and they use them to good effect. Mineral deficiencies for the horse are also better treated by a supplement, than by land treatment, in my opinion.

We, here in East Anglia, are heavily Copper deficient, and whilst horses can cope with supplements, feeding Copper to sheep will kill them! It's also illegal. I've tried to bolus them, but with little apparent effect, so now I just live with it! This has nothing to do with horses and grass!

The best course for anyone who's interested is to send away cut grass, have an analysis done, and then offer mineral tubs which are designed to offer the missing dietary components, at least that's what I think!

Alec.

Ets, I realise that the above advice flies in the face of those who would recommend 'land treatment', as an option, but the EFFECTIVE treatment of the soil itself is an incredibly complex business for the reasons that I've mentioned, and it's also very expensive. It works with a crop production, even grass, when the crop is being harvested, but for individual animals, generally supplementing the missing and needed minerals, is the cheaper and the more certain and efficacious option.

 

[milliepops]

well that depends on the nature of the problems you have locally, surely Alec? We had a shortage of grass due to low pH and wonky minerals, and consequently an abundance of moss & weeds. 'Supplementation' in my case was feeding hay in the field throughout the year... also not cheap!

 

[Alec Swan]

Encouraging grass to grow, and altering the mineral content of the grass, are two separate issues. 'Generally', healthy grass growth by the simple expedient of Nitrogen application will suffocate moss, and by spraying off weeds, with an MCPA treatment at the right time of year/weather/growth conditions, will produce a more certain crop of grass, rather than attempting to address the problem by supplementing the grass itself. Grass 'can' have the lacking mineral levels addressed, but as I say, the mineral content of soil isn't simply a case of slinging what's lacking, about. It's a complex business because each of the minerals will impact upon another, and may very well block the necessary uptake.

I say 'Generally', because that's always been my experience of grass production.

Alec.

 

[Alec Swan]

……..
I used these guys http://www.progreen.co.uk/soil-analysis/soil-analysis-for-paddocks/cat_103.html which was cheap and very fast - I took the soil samples and sent them off.
……...

The other problem with sending off soil samples is that the returned results will tell you the status of the soil. What they won't tell you is what the grass is actually taking up, and the results may very well surprise you! It's always possible that the soil content and the grass content will mirror each other, though having carried out several tests here, and in my experience, they rarely do.

Alec.

 

[spacie1977]

That's really helpful but also slightly mind boggling! How do you know exactly what to do with the results when they come back?
I've just read 'the daily requirement for copper in horses is 25-30 mg/kg of dry matter intake.' So I wonder what that translates to in grass (considering once dried some of it's nutritional value is probably lost), and what the recommended amounts are for other minerals and vitamins.
Do the companies mentioned here advise what the ideal doses are and whether it's best to supplement or treat the field?
I suppose whether I treat the field will also depend on what I'm chucking on it. There's a large pond next to it we don't want to poison the fish when it rains.

 

[milliepops]

Encouraging grass to grow, and altering the mineral content of the grass, are two separate issues. 'Generally', healthy grass growth by the simple expedient of Nitrogen application will suffocate moss, and by spraying off weeds, with an MCPA treatment at the right time of year/weather/growth conditions, will produce a more certain crop of grass, rather than attempting to address the problem by supplementing the grass itself. Grass 'can' have the lacking mineral levels addressed, but as I say, the mineral content of soil isn't simply a case of slinging what's lacking, about. It's a complex business because each of the minerals will impact upon another, and may very well block the necessary uptake.

I say 'Generally', because that's always been my experience of grass production.

Alec.

OK, well clearly as I had to send off to get the help I'm not an expert. When they phoned through with the results I was told that the incredibly low levels of sulphur and phosphorus in our soil would hinder rooting & growth of the grass. We had long grass, as it hadn't been grazed before we moved in, but it was very patchy and all that was underneath was moss. Other landowners in the area advised us to strengthen the grass growth by addressing the underlying problems, and not one person said we should just dump a load of nitrogen on. Dunno. Perhaps we have a strange situation. Anyway, it's looking better

Just going on my personal experience with the company above. Approaching it from our position of knowing nothing about what was going on in the paddocks, i thought they were very helpful. We also got a firm idea of the pH, which the home test kits were useless for.

OP, if you are still interested in doing an analysis, progreen told us exactly what to apply, quantities and timing. It was all specific to horse pasture, as that's all we have grazing here.

If I had a regular hay supply I'd have that analysed, but I have to get it from all over the place. Lots of places offer this, one of my local suppliers is getting their forage analysed this year so I'll ask who they use, but I think some of the feed companies will do it for you.