Field productivity had declined over time for a local producer and he requested advice on reseeding of his hay fields to increase production.  After a site visit, it appeared that grass stands were sufficient, but lacked the growth he wanted.  We had a discussion about his goals and plans to use the forage.  I knew that he recently sold his cattle and only planned for cash hay sales.  Most of the hay would be for beef cattle, so grass or grass clover hay would be all that was needed.  He was also concerned about weeds that continued to get worse each year.  

I suggested that we could improve the grass stands with the correct fertility and that would also reduce the weed pressure by thickening the stands.  I also suggested that he look into raising his cutting height on his mower.  I indicated that extremely low cutting height are detrimental to grass stands.  Once the lime was added, he could frost seed clover to improve the stands. 

After results from soil test came back, most fields were high in Phosphorus and very low in Potassium and many fields needed lime to raise the pH level.  By improving fertility, yields will be improved without the expense to reseed.  One particular field that he wanted to reseed in alfalfa had a pH of 4.9.  By not seeding this field in alfalfa, we save him thousands of dollars as this would never result in a positive forage yield due to the extremely low pH