Curious what people think the most cost effective nutrient for large scale outdoor hemp is. Not necessarily which is the cheapest but what produces the best product for a reasonable price.
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Jack’s or HGV.
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jacks. master blend is good too
or you could go even further and get all the raw materials and make everything yourself from scratch. might be a long walk for a short drink though, jacks is pretty cheap as is
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Espoma plant tone followed by a top dress of flower tone in late july
Ferments is where the money and terps are at!!
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If your soil is good enough, you need very little fertilizer, if any at all.
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Composted manure
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Sadly, most soil in the world is not good enough. Consultation with an Agronomist that’s experienced with no-till, organics, and holistic farming, can get you there in 5-10 yrs.
As an example, tilling in a cover crop of red clover in the fall can add up to 140 ppm of nitrogen. Clover fixes nitrogen by sequestering it directly from the atmosphere in addition to soil uptake.
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Like state above, its dependent on soil. Testing your soil and consulting with an agronomist like myself is your best option.
Most soil currently being farmed is not good enough, I agree. The best soil around is that which has not been touched by modern agriculture. My own field was a cow pasture for 80 years and never tilled, because it is a hillside. By using simple weed cloth, I was able to grow on a hill without any problems, since I never tilled it. I would prefer an old pasture to any farmland I have seen near me. Tilled clay is like a desert devoid of soil life.
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I monitored around 200 acres of hemp grown in clay in 2019. Clay sucks.
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Do you have anyone you could refer me to in Oregon?
Worm castings, leaf mold, compost, preferably locally made to fit your region, azomite, and mychorrizal fungi.
Use a cover crop in the fall to bring in nitrogen naturally, no till and just lay and crimp the cover crop in spring and plant into the layed cover crop. That will give you a mulch layer as well as plenty of nutrients once it decays and break down, the beneficials will love it and feed your crop accordingly when needed.
Just my opinion, im just a guy who believes in regenerative farming practices, the law of return, and everything needed is in soil or can be
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dry amendment, that is side dressed next to plant. $300/acre. 4-4-4 spiked with bat guano, and silica
Out of curiosity, have you run into issues with field mice populations using the crimp method of cover cropping?
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Chicken shit pellets clock in at $180 a ton from our local coop at a 2-4-3
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Loving this topic and all the great info being shared here. Some things I will touch on.
When farming on scale, always apply a good balance of natural top dressing. Avoid single source nutrients like a 0-0-5, 5-0-0, ect. This will not only improve soil life, but keep cost low as applying nutrients multiple times per year can get costly in terms of labor.
Products I suggest:
Alfalfa
Manures (Chicken and Goat are best) Cow manure can get costly to ship, use it when it is local.
local plant ferments (make your own)
local microbes (collect your own)
Humics & fulvics
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Daikon radish is a great cover crop for clay. The radishes aerate the clay and attract worms as they rot. “Groundhog radish” is a brand name of daikon bred to be extra hardy as a cover crop.
Morgan County Seed out of western missouri usually has the best price on cover crop seed.
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Short answer: Cost effective = Soil and water tests < synthetic fertilizer < composting/regenerative < bulk dry amendments < organic liquids.
In depth (because there is no quick, quality answer): First off, go get your soil and water tested before you buy anything. Logan labs is a good lab, and if you need an analysis (which you will unless trained or willing to learn soil science) hire a reputable local/regional agronomist or consult, or you can go the route of paying companies like KIS Organics or Build-A-Soil to do quick acreage recommendations.
Be sure to run labs for micronutrients, specify nitrogen (often not included), and look at heavy metals if you have a heart. If the land has been worked in the past get a pesticide/chemical analysis or two, but you likely won’t need every acre tested for this last one unless you have variable terrain, soil, or multiple zones/previous crops grown. All this will save you potentially massive costs/loss, ensure your soil is safe and viable, and set you up for success.
Once you get your results, then shop around. If you’re talking pure economics, synthetics is your ticket, but that ride will effectively kill the living ecosystem in your soil, eventually lead to all kinds of issues down the line. You’ll compromise your soil viability, yes, but also often-unforeseen other things like pest resistance, your business optics, ethical standing, and possibly the consumers, many of whom may be looking for relief medical issues and are already have fragile health and the last thing they need is exposure to residual synthetic chemicals… But that’s some people’s approach to agronomy. IiWiI.
I’d say the single best bang for your buck, aside from a test, is to balance pH to maximize nutrient availability. Bi-Carbonates and some other nutrients such as Silica can raise your soil pH, as well as provide Ca/Si/etc if needed. Lowering the pH can be done by adding amendments such as elemental Sulfur. With balanced pH you are maximizing nutrient absorption, lessening other fertilization costs, and Lime and Sulfur are very inexpensive.
What can be close to as cost effective for cost per pound as synthetics, but will require more of your time, and can take more time to build peak fertility, is creating regenerative closed loop systems on your farm.
Cover cropping in spring and in late autumn is by farm the most cost effective method, and is a quick and easy way to fertilize as well as regenerate your soil biome, condition compacted soil, sequester carbon, improve water retention. If you don’t have the tractor implements, rent them. Sow or spread, wait, crimp, possibly crimp again, and if tilling is your deal then go for it, but if not just leave the plant residue to decompose naturally. Alfalfa, legumes, crimson clover, winter wheat, oats, brassicas, vetch… some of my favorites. All do slightly different things for soil and fertilization.
Composting organic waste would be the next best method, or wild sourcing green manure and either composting that as well, feeding it to your livestock to create actual manure, which may or may not require composting before application, or creating live plant ferments with it using the Korean Natural Farming approach. All of these options are time-intensive, but can yield incredible results, especially over a few years of building soil, and will bind you and your efforts to your soil in ways you wouldn’t believe.
If you have cattle you can rotate their grazing, which is cost prohibitive for those without the livestock or space, but if you have the Bessies it is a fantastic way to remediate dead soil as long as they aren’t over-grazed.
Next would be bulk dry amendments. Pretty self explanatory. Try to source domestically to save on shipping, and make sure the company has a good reputation. Lots to explore out there.
If you need micronutrients in your soil, and can prove it in soil results, you can add them and still remain USDA organic. Finding your deficits and then ordering the specific micro’s and mixing them yourself, or having a local supply company do it if you can talk them into it, or using a company like BAS mix them for you is still economical, and IME worth it. It’s not a lot of fun suiting up and strapping on a respirator to go mix up things like cobalt or copper to consistency. Once you have your blend, carefully spread it and till. Fertigating with a balanced blend of micros throughout the season is a good idea as well, but may violate certain organic certifications.
Silica, if added as an amendment and not a pesticide (yep), can fall into that same issue with certifications as well but shouldn’t be overlooked, as it increases dried weight, drought resistance, and creates supportive branching, negating loss. The dry bulk Si is remarkably cheap, but requires a month or two to be broken down molecularly to be plant-available, so till it in at the beginning of the year.
Charged biochar or montmorilonite (sp?) clay are great for tilling in to raise your EC (electrical conductivity) in sandy soils or soil with little organic matter. Simply put, without proper EC you might fertilize to little effect, so pay attention to this issue. Both EC and organic matter will likely be included on a soil test.
Lastly, your water may have iron, calcium, sulfur, etc to your benefit. Calculate this into your fertilization approach. It’s straight up free, and should have been first after the soil/water tests on the list, but I’ll leave it here to close it out.
Best of seasons to everyone out there!
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Master blend is my shit!! Good stuff and costly
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