fertilizer dealer really screwed up.

[WTA]

I grow hay for the local horse market on my farm here and cut every 28 days. As soon as I get it baled I fertilize according to soil samples I take every month. This month I did the same as always but had to put out more nitrogen and a lot of potash and sulphur as well as micronutrients. I've never put out a mix like that before. Usually it's just 46-0-0 nitrogen.

I called and ordered it and went to pick up the spreader the next day at the dealer. I asked them if they were sure it was set right and they assured me it was. I even got to looking at it when I got home and wasn't so sure myself about the setting they put on the spreader so I called and asked someone else there. He said they were professionalls and set it up right to put out the amount I asked for.

Well, I just did one of my fields and it is half of the acreage I ordered fertilizer for. I got on the last row and the spreader ran dry!

Now I am not sure what to do. I got another whole field to do and this one is extremely overfertilized. I know the amount of nitrogen out there is going to burn it bad at minimum and if it does live I doubt it will be fit for hay.

What should I do? I'm pretty mad right now.

BTW I have a GPS system on my tractor and I do know exactly how many acres I covered and doublechecked that I had it all set up right on my end.

 

[RickB]

There is no doubt that a serious error was made, perhaps in the setting of the spreader's gate. Hopefully there will be some relief for you on the product needed to cover the remaining acreage.
From an agronomic standpoint, it isn't likely that serious damage to the stand will be done, or that the next cutting will be unfit in any way to bale and feed as hay.

It is interesting that you soil sample monthly. That is a far more rigorous schedule than even the most diligent farmers in this area would undertake for a low value crop such as grass hay. Even more surprising that after a monthly testing routine ongoing for some unspecified length of time when nitrogen only was recommended, suddenly potash is called for. As a macronutrient, one would think it would be reported as deficient or not rather than present at acceptable levels one month and deficient the next.

 

[Duffster]

Buy another spreader full to finish with. Stuff happens.

 

[WTA]

grass hay here is far from a low value crop. 8.25 right now to 12.00 per bale in the winter is about average. It's worth just as much as alfalfa down here. I usually sell to regulars for 7.25 per bale though. I don't mess with feed stores any more.

Soil sampling every month only costs about 20 bucks and gains me huge profits normally. I think the big difference in the fertilizer this month is that we haven't had rain in two months. I haven't turned off the sprinklers in 9 weeks now. Our water is plentifull but hard on the grass. Way too much calcium and too much irrigation always puts my ph too high requiring the sulpher to bring it back down. I can't explain the potash really but I have had some huge crops off the bermuda fields this year. Bigger than ever at 120 60 pound bales per acre.
I wish my alfalfa would do that. 100 per acre is the best I've ever gotten off it.

I was really hoping for two more cuttings this year but now I have a feeling I'm going to be mowing for a couple weeks and praying for rain. I'll take plant tissue samples before I bale to make sure it's not toxic with all that nitrogen.
Usually we do 60 pounds actual N per acre and I know from experience 80 pounds will show toxic levels in the plant samples. I just put out 160 pounds N per acre!

 

[RickB]

grass hay here is far from a low value crop.

Compared to vegetables, nuts, fruits, and tobacco it's a low value crop. All hay crops are low value crops, relatively speaking. When you start grossing tens of thousands of dollars per acre, those are high value crops where intense oversight of inputs is more common.

Soil sampling is important, and perhaps it's common to test monthly in your locale. It's not here for hay crops. I'm not sure that a reasonably accurate soil nitrogen test exists. Farmers that really want a handle on N use tissue sampling to gauge N needs.

 

[turnkey4099]

I grow hay for the local horse market on my farm here and cut every 28 days. As soon as I get it baled I fertilize according to soil samples I take every month. This month I did the same as always but had to put out more nitrogen and a lot of potash and sulphur as well as micronutrients. I've never put out a mix like that before. Usually it's just 46-0-0 nitrogen.

I called and ordered it and went to pick up the spreader the next day at the dealer. I asked them if they were sure it was set right and they assured me it was. I even got to looking at it when I got home and wasn't so sure myself about the setting they put on the spreader so I called and asked someone else there. He said they were professionalls and set it up right to put out the amount I asked for.

Well, I just did one of my fields and it is half of the acreage I ordered fertilizer for. I got on the last row and the spreader ran dry!

Now I am not sure what to do. I got another whole field to do and this one is extremely overfertilized. I know the amount of nitrogen out there is going to burn it bad at minimum and if it does live I doubt it will be fit for hay.

What should I do? I'm pretty mad right now.

BTW I have a GPS system on my tractor and I do know exactly how many acres I covered and doublechecked that I had it all set up right on my end.

What to do? Document everything including pictures of the spreader settings, gps readings, etc. Then back to the dealer for redress.

Harry K

 

[charlz]

So what ever happened with this? Did they admit fault?

 

[bumpercrop]

This is a standard occurrence in my area. They may have set it wrong or filled it with half the amount.