Pasture Improvement: Nutrient Cycling

Table of Contents

1. Nutrient Cycling
2. Other Pasture Improvement Recommendations
   • Choosing the Improvement Technique
   • Rejuvenation
   • Renovation
   • Seeding into the Sod
   • Broadcast Seeding
   • Limited Tillage
   • Frost Seeding
   • Using Livestock to Renovate Pastures
   • Fertilizing Pastures
   • Soil Tests
   • Impact of Grazing Animals on Pasture Fertility
   • Weed Control
   • Trampling Effects
3. Related Links

Nutrient Cycling

Not all nutrients in the soil are available to plants. Nutrients may be in organic matter, soil organisms, in freely available chemical forms, tightly bound within the structure of soil particles or bound to the surface of soil particles. This is not static, but rather a dynamic system where soil organisms (earthworms, insects, and other invertebrates) digest organic matter added to the soil. Their by-products, and as they die themselves, are in turn digested by soil micro-organisms (fungi, bacteria, etc.). These micro-organisms are, in turn, digested by other micro-organisms or decompose into elements that enter the soil chemistry. Within the chemistry some elements form tight chemical associations with soil particles while others are relatively available for plant uptake.

Healthy, fast-growing pastures have soil with active organic matter and chemistry as new organic matter is regularly added to the system. With a complex cycle, it is impossible to determine the exact status of the entire system at one time. The level of organic matter in the soil (undigested plant material, macroorganisms and micro-organisms) can be measured, as well as the level of nutrients available to plants in the soil.

Test soils regularly to determine the level and balance of various nutrients. This allows you to increase the nutrients at insufficient levels and prevent the over-application of elements currently at satisfactory levels. Keep records and use soil tests as a management tool. They show, over time, which elements are increasing or depleting. Changes can then be made to the fertility program to prevent the depletion of nutrients and the "run-down" pastures that result.

Related Links

... on forages and pastures, visit Forages and Pastures (OMAFRA)
... on weed control, order Publication 75 Guide to Weed Control: Forage Crops
... on agronomy for field crops, order Pub. 811 Agronomy Guide for Field Crops: Chapter 3 Forages
... on field crop protection, order Publication 812, Field Crop Protection Guide
... on livestock, visit Livestock (OMAFRA)