I’m trying to figure budgets for the Madison County place and was thinking about putting out some 13-13-13 at about 300 pounds per acre on 25 acres. Has anyone put out bulk fertilizer this year and could guesstimate what this would run ?

Call Helena, they can tell you.

Have you had your soil checked? That's what I'd do first. That will help to tell you what you need . At that rate almost 4 tons for 25 acres. Over in Fayette County years ago would put out 150 t0 200 pounds an acre (twice a year, early spring and late fall) and it always done us good on the pastures for grazing. Bumper Crop Texas, LLC Schulenburg Tx. is where we bought ours. They would deliver if over 7 tons. Don't know what they do now but know they are still in business. With Fertilizer prices today, would be like putting out Gold.

That's a pretty high rate to apply especially if you haven't had a soil sample analyzed. I'll try to fertilize in the next week or so. Night time temps are in the 60's now. i have bermuda and if you fertilize before the low temps get above 60 you are feeding a lot of weeds. Last year price was just over a thousand a ton so your cost at that rate would be $3,750.

I don't know the going rate, but it isn't cheap!

1000% agree with the guys on a soil sample' I used to do my fields every other year and it makes a difference in grass quality and your pocket book.

Triple 13 I sure wouldn't put out bulk, at 300lbs acre, that's 39 units of each measure per acre, probably light on Nit, mid range for phosphorous and potash, BUT it all depends on your dirt. Mine usually ran around 60 units nitrogen per acre, 30-40 phosphorous and pot ash fluctuated as I burned my fields off usually each year.

$20-30 on a soil test sent to A&M, is a bargain for what it can save, plus quality of grass.

I put out 150 pounds on about a 1/4 acres at $180

I’ll stop by the County Ag guys office on the way in and see if they have the soil sample kit and send or take it in to A&M.
Y’all are right, with fertilizer prices as high as they are it’s crazy to put it out just guessing.
As to feeding the weeds, I will add 1% 2-4D to the mix if they still do that.

We got 1 ton of 21 - 7 - 14 two weeks ago and it was $700. Spread rate was 300 pounds per acre.

I just had 280 acres of hayfields fertilized with liquid fertilizer. Also applied a herbicide and a pesticide. Fertilizer was 425 per ton. Significantly cheaper than a year ago.

I paid $500/ton mostly nitrate
I got it from standleys in normangee

Here you go, take a bunch of samples then mix them in a clean bucket. Using a sharp shooter helps.

https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/files/soilwebform.pdf

Do the soil test and go from there. That alone will teach you a lot and whoever you use to test will help you. Fertilizer is way cheaper than last year, but that doesn’t mean you want to use the wrong type at the wrong rate. I have over 1000 acres and test every year. It’s cheap compared to the expense of wasted or wrong fertilizer.

If you haven’t sprayed herbicide I’d wait until next year and spray it. Takes over 75,000 gallons of mixed 2-4-D to do mine but it sure is worth it. Fertilizing a weedy field makes no sense.

I was spraying to kill bahia grass, not weeds. Should have been more clear.

I did 10 acres last week,20-10-10 ,the weight slip was #2030 and it was just a tad over $700,that was from Justin seed company,and no rental on the spreader.

the price of anhydrous ammonia is thru the roof. don't know how farmers afford it these days.

My son sprays his costal field with liquid fertilizer and a herbicide at the same time every year. The weeds come back every year and this year they are bad. He sprayed 2 weeks ago and they are dead now. Does anyone spray a herbicide by itself earlier when they are just starting to grow and then come back with a fertilizer when it warms up enough for the costal to start growing. I know a person who has lots of horse quality costal they cut every year and he told me several years ago that they spray their fields with glyphosate. They have to do it when the coastal is still dormant. They have beautiful fields every year too.

I spray around late march and early April as the guy you talked to does. Then fertilize and pray for rain after. When I first started I had a few fields that might need a second round, now I have them all in pretty good shape. I run 2-4-D or Grazon depending on needs and price.

Never use something like 13-13-13 on a large area. You are paying for 61 pounds of filler for each 100 pounds of fertilizer you buy.

Do a soil test to determine what you need.

Get a feed store or co-op to custom blend the mix you need using triple super phosphate (0-44-0), murate of potash (0-0-60), and the most economical nitrogen source. Lots of places will bag it in 50 lb bags for a little extra cost. Even with the bagging cost you will save money and apply less fertilizer. Just for reference, 100 lbs of triple super per acre will apply 12.8% more P than your rate of 300 lbs of 13-13-13.

Just 2 cents from an Extension agent.
Big Hutch

61lbs of filler per 100 seems high. Looking at something like APF 13-13-13 which is AMS 21-0-0-24, DAP 18-46-0, and MOP 0-0-60. That would be 10lbs of filler left per 100?

It doesn’t work that way. Fertilizer analysis is per 100 lbs of fertilizer. That is true for both granular and liquid formulations. 13+13+13 = 39 lbs of elemental N, P, and K. What is left out of the 100 lbs is the filler which is 61 lbs. That’s how it works. You will always have filler.

That is also why more concentrated versions are more cost efficient. Using your example of DAP it has 64 lbs (18+46) of elemental N and P per hundred lbs so it only has 36 lbs of filler per hundred lbs. Using muriate of potash at 0-0-60 means 60 lbs of K per 100 lbs and 40 lbs of filler. The filler doesn’t go away it is just that the concentration (%) of filler decreases and the concentration of useful elements increases.

If you mixed 100 lbs of DAP and 100 lbs of MOP you would have 200 lbs combined that would have the analysis of 18-46-60. Then you have to convert that back to the standard analysis for 100 lbs of fertilizer to get the correct analysis. That translates into an actual analysis of 9-23-30 per 100 lbs of fertilizer which would mean 62 lbs of useful elements and 38 lbs of filler.

By the way, unless you are trying to lower your pH or you want to pay for extra lime use ammonium sulfate (21-0-0-24) very sparingly as a nitrogen source. For every lbs of ammonium sulfate you apply you neutralize almost 6 lbs of lime. Look for 33-0-0-12 or get them to “blend” it for you.

I hope all of that helps answer your questions.

Just my 2 cents.
Big Hutch

This was also what I learned from a golf course superintendent when I asked how they can keep such a large area free of weeds when I can’t even manage my yard. He said, “Round-Up. Put it on when the Bermuda is still dormant and it won’t kill it.” I did that a couple of years on my lawn and it worked really well. The only downside was that although the Bermuda was still dormant, it did injure it enough to cause a delayed green up so my yard was still brown after the neighbors all had green yards. But mine was pretty weed free. Especially dandelions.

You have to really get crazy with glyphosate to kill any bermuda grass. I spray about 1 to 2 pints per acre after each cutting and it doesnt bother the bermuda one bit.