Fertilizer prices

[rgood]

I thought this was a good article on Fertilizer prices

Act Soon to Hold Down Fertilizer Costs - Virginia Cooperative Extension

I'm going to do soil tests and see how things look - I'd sure like to skip a year of fert.

I was considering just aerating, but as far as I can tell, aeration doesn't do alot of good unless you follow it with fert.

Any thoughts?

I'm also concerned about aeration planting weed seeds.

I have sandy soil, Tifton 9 horse pasture

 

[KTurner]

Interesting that you quoted a VA office. Just this past Friday, VA lawmakers passed a bill that makes it illegal to sell fertilizer containing phosphorus after 2013. I haven't read the bill for myself yet, so hopefully this news story isn't distorting things too much.

State lawmakers OK fertilizer bills - Daily Press

Keith

 

[MMagis]

Considering the article was written in 2010, it shouldn't be too surprising. That and the fact that it isn't a law yet.

Interesting that you quoted a VA office. Just this past Friday, VA lawmakers passed a bill that makes it illegal to sell fertilizer containing phosphorus after 2013. I haven't read the bill for myself yet, so hopefully this news story isn't distorting things too much.

State lawmakers OK fertilizer bills - Daily Press

Keith

 

[KTurner]

Considering the article was written in 2010, it shouldn't be too surprising. That and the fact that it isn't a law yet.

I wasn't trying to imply the first article was bogus or anything - just coincidental. I had read about the new bill passing a couple days ago, and he posts this today, they were related, so I added the new news to conversation. Since the OP was considering skipping the fertilizer a year possibly because of the high prices, the new potential law may have an impact on that decision.

The localities here (SE VA) are getting slammed by the EPA to reduce runoff. The localities were initially quoting $1000-$3000 increase in sewer bills per household per year to meet the standards presented by the EPA. After negotiation/more thought/recounting/whatever, those numbers have dropped down to $400-$842 more per house per year. My county is saying $842 increase per house per year. Plus, they're currently surveying my neighborhood and taking bids to install public sewer for us. I'm happy with our septic tank, but I'm not sure if remaining on septic will be a practical option (those who chose not to hookup to public water when it was installed had liens put on their house). I may get slammed with the hookup fees (I'm 300' from the road), whatever the existing charges are, plus the $842/year increase all at about the same time. Sorry, getting a bit off topic - but where I was going is that the EPA is really pushing hard, so I expect this bill will be signed into law by the gov.

Don't add fert if you don't need it, but don't think that you'll always have the same options. Maybe something better will come along, maybe not.

 

[MMagis]

Sorry about that, didn’t mean to imply you did, but that’s what it looks like I meant. I just wanted to point out that the article was written long before the new law proposal.
While I understand the problem with phosphorus build up, I think there are better ways to help than to outlaw phosphorus all together. That’s like outlawing guns because of criminals, or outlawing cars because of accidents. Oh well, that’s another discussion.

 

[rgood]

I was considering just aerating, but as far as I can tell, aeration doesn't do alot of good unless you follow it with fert.

Any thoughts?

I'm also concerned about aeration planting weed seeds.

I have sandy soil, Tifton 9 horse pasture

 

[MMagis]

The soil test will tell the story on what you need or don't need. I doubt aeration alone is going to do much. It may make it look better, but it won't increase output. Don't forget lime. All the fertilizer in the world is worthless with a low pH, and sandy soil often does have a low pH.