Consider the use of alternative products instead of commercial chemical fertilizers. One alternative that's readily available in some parts of the state is broiler house litter. A major consideration with litter and other alternative nitrogen sources is whether you can buy it, and truck it to your farm, at a reasonable cost. The key economic consideration is how the cost per pound for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compare with commercial fertilizer. Another option for producers would be to add forage legumes to their fields of forage grasses.
Legumes take nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil.
If pastures contain at least 30 percent forage legumes, the addition of commercial nitrogen fertilizers can usually be avoided. An added benefit of using clover and other legumes is that they usually increase animal performance by providing them forage that is higher both in protein and total energy. Finally, forage crops will produce some forage when receiving little or no fertilization. Therefore, Ball says, by reducing the stocking rate in pastures you can get by with less fertilizer, which amounts to substituting acres for fertilizer. That means a producer who does this will need more acres to provide the same amount of forage.