Hope is not a Plan
By: Bill Parchert, Agronomy Resource Manager
All of us engaged in agriculture spend a fair amount of time dealing in hope. We all hope that we have the perfect spring that allows us to complete our fieldwork that didn’t get done last fall. We all hope that we have perfect spring weather so we can apply our nitrogen well before planting season and then hope for great yields. While hope may spring eternal, developing a plan may be more important this spring than ever before.
Spring Wish List:
- perfect weather
- ideal soil temperatures
- enough nitrogen
- enough nitrogen in the right place
- enough nitrogen at the right time
- fieldwork gets done
With the lack of fieldwork allowed last fall, there will be extra emphasis on utilizing trips across the field this spring. Looking for options to improve efficiency will be key, particularly with nitrogen product selection and application. Using nitrogen stabilizers is the best way to manage whatever form of nitrogen is applied.
Once we accomplish our spring nitrogen applications, we want to keep it in its ammonium form for as long as possible since this is its most efficient form for corn utilization. Nitrogen stabilizers help promote this. Whether you utilize anhydrous, liquid, or urea, we have the products to provide protection from nitrogen loss.
Utilizing our in-house technology tools, we can also utilize satellite imagery and tissue sampling to measure nutrient utilization. We no longer have to hope that we have enough nutrients to provide optimum yield.
More growers are using urea in sidedress application to better match product availability to crop utilization. Any nitrogen product that is being laid on top of the ground must have a stabilizer or we risk denitrification. Urea stabilizers are used to keep the product less vulnerable to volatilization.
As we move closer to spring fieldwork, our agronomy sales and operations team will continue to monitor conditions and assist you in your nitrogen management program. We might sneak a little hope in there as well!