Put Back What You Pull Off
As harvest is in full swing, it is important to remember that as you pull big yields off of your fields, you are also pulling a lot of nutrients out of your soil as well. The removal rate for nitrogen off corn is 0.90 lbs/bu, the removal rate for P2O4 off corn is 0.37 lbs/bu, and the removal rate for K2O off corn is 0.27 lbs/bu. This means that if you had a poorer crop, let’s say 160 bu/ac, you are removing from the soil 144 lbs of nitrogen. If you have outstanding yields of 250 bu/ac, you are removing 225 lbs of nitrogen. If you put less than 225 lbs of nitrogen back on your rotation following an outstanding crop year, you are starving your plants.
Are you starving your plants?
One way to check what your fields need is to soil sample. This can help us know where your fields are lacking and what they need most to produce a great crop. This is especially true of grid sampling; with grid sampling, we have the ability to apply dry fertilizer and lime to your fields only where they need it. We won’t promise that it will save you money but it will best allocate your money to the areas you most need it. Are you leaving money on the table?
Are you too busy with other tasks in the spring?
Have you considered fall anhydrous application? Make sure you are still planning accordingly. You need to break up your nitrogen applications throughout the season to give your crops the best chance. You should never apply fall anhydrous without the aid of a nitrogen stabilizer (read “Protect Your Largest Input Investment“), this is just wasting your investment on your field. If you are not putting a stabilizer on your field, you are gambling with how much will be there the following season. Are you willing to gamble with your investment?
Are your fields properly limed?
Liming is important for nutrient and herbicide uptake into crops and weeds respectively. Again, grid sampling can help with putting lime where it is truly needed. Are you wasting your herbicide investment because of an improper pH level? Another great product for you to consider is applying liquid lime and potash to your bean ground. We would encourage you to seriously consider this product combination for your fields, especially if you only need a maintenance rate of lime, your soybeans will LOVE this.
If you are looking for a slow releasing nitrogen and sulfur product that is immediately available to the plant you should consider ALF. This product is great for corn and corn-on-corn. In a corn-on-corn rotation, it can help break down the stalk residue from the previous year’s crop and help increase organic matter in your soil. Not only is it a great source of slow-release nitrogen all by itself but it is also a great source of dissolved sulfur that is readily available to the plant.
Do your fields erode over winter?
Are you concerned about nutrient loss? Cover crops can be a great way to hold both your soil and your nutrient investment firmly in place over the harsh winter months. The right time to apply cover crops is right after you finish harvesting either through your dry fertilizer application or by a drill, we have both options available to you.
Another thing to keep in mind as you are going through your fields this fall is where your herbicide program worked and where it did not; better yet, write it down. If it did not work, next we want to know why. Are your plants resistant to the herbicide you chose? Was the herbicide used the best one for the weeds that you have? Which weeds escaped the spray? It is important to write this down so that it can be corrected next year, before the problem gets completely out of hand. Two planned passes are going to be a lot more economical than rescue passes.
Sit down and talk with your Stutsman agronomist to discuss what yields you would like to see out of your fields and what you need to do to get there. It is our mission to see you pull record yields off your fields every single year.
