Harvesting Hay Can Strip Soil of Vital Nutrients
Harvesting hay is a vital agricultural process for those who keep livestock. Hay, which consists of dried grass, legumes, and other herbaceous plants, provides animals nutrient-rich food when there is no access to pasture-land. But did you know that harvesting hay can strip soil of vital nutrients?
In optimal growing conditions, farmers can harvest a surplus of hay, requiring them to sell the hay for much less than what it costs to actually produce it. In particular, fertilizing soil can be incredibly expensive because so many nutrients are stripped from the soil after the hay is harvested.
From just a single ton of Bermuda grass hay, up to 60 pounds of nitrogen can be removed from the field, and this nitrogen must be replaced before new crops can grow. If not, the soil will lose nutrients, resulting in lower yields and increased weed growth.
If one bale of hay causes 60 pounds of nitrogen to be lost, and on average, the cost of nitrogen is 40 cents per pound, then it costs $24 just in nitrogen fertilizer to replenish the soil.
A typical farm produces thousands of hay bales per harvest. It’s not hard to see that the cost of fertilizer can add up quickly. However, resupplying stripped fields with fertilizer is absolutely imperative for any profit to be made at all.
Liquid fertilizer xVital may be a solution! xVital is composed of concentrated forms of nitrogen, making it easier to ship on a large scale, which could potentially slash fuel costs for farmers while still supplying crops with the nutrients they need. With xVital, harvesting hay doesn’t have to be a costly process–for you or your soil.
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