Maximizing Profitability with Fertility
Since we’re still kicking off the new year to some extent, and finalizing plans for the fast approaching growing season, let’s continue to dive into the Max Yield System and all the pieces that can help you achieve profitability in 2025 – and beyond.
If you’ve been listening and reading along these past couple months, you already know the key pieces of the Max Yield System are the Crop Plan, Fertility Plan, Crop Protection Plan, and Harvest Evaluation. During February we’re going to spend some time talking through parts of the Fertility and Crop Protection plans, and time is of the essence… so if you haven’t already, get in touch with us and let’s get your plan for 2025 Profitability in place!
Fertility planning is both simple and complex. It all starts with a Crop Plan to identify the crop for the field, the APH for the crop, and the bushel/1000 plants goal. After developing that plan we map out and take soil samples and evaluate yield limiting nutrients. There’s a lot to unpack here so I’ll just touch on a few, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur, if you’re not paying attention to these three levels on your soil test, or you’re not taking a soil test – you should be.
Nitrogen is a tricky element to determine the correct application rate of, but with experience and time, dialing in a nitrogen program that works and is economical is possible. First, determine the total amount of nitrogen needed, to do this we’ll need to pull information from the crop plan. Then we will take a look at key indicators on a soil test that we use in our nitrogen planning which include: Organic Matter (OM), NO3 Surface, NO3 Subsoil, Estimated Nitrogen Release (ENR) and CEC. Other factors that can influence Nitrogen Use Efficiency are soil test Sulfur levels, nitrogen source, and application timing and placement. All of these factors are used to determine the correct application rate and dial in this part of the Max Yield System. We need to remember, the more sources and times we use nitrogen, typically the more efficient we are at growing a crop with less nitrogen, and sources like Pivot Bio often allow us to reach the highest Nitrogen Use Efficiency.
Phosphorus is a game of haves and have nots, where it seems some farms with significant history of manure or phosphorus applications have sufficient soil test P, and others do not, sometimes within a field this even shows up by soil type and pH. Referring back to the Crop Plan and determining the estimated P removal by the crop is the first step. Then let’s look at factors on the soil test that influence the amount of P application we are looking at needing. Phosphorus is reported in several different ways depending on what lab is used, what the soil pH is and what extraction method is used. Typically soil test levels of 25ppm on the Bray P 1 are considered sufficient for growing a crop. If you find yourself with levels at or above 25 ppm the question is how high are they? I’ve experienced soils with soil test P levels in excess of 100 ppm which didn’t require phos applications for multiple years, in other circumstances if soil test P levels are just at or above the threshold, a starter fertilizer or a P application based on crop removal may be warranted. Just like Pivot Bio for Nitrogen, the biological space for P is starting to heat up with microbes known as Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria. If you’re planning to use phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, you’ll want to also look at your Bray P2 levels as this is where most of the P that becomes available to the plant is going to come from.
Finally for today let’s touch on Sulfur. Sulfur is now being touted as the fourth macronutrient. Sulfur is helpful in many ways, the acidity of Sulfur helps buffer soil pH allowing micronutrients and phosphorus to be more plant available. Sulfur also is essential in the uptake and efficiency of Nitrogen as mentioned above. Utilizing sulfur in your nitrogen blends is a best practice in my opinion, it makes your nitrogen more efficient as well as has some stabilizing effects when surface applied in a nitrogen blend. Sulfur levels in most soils I’ve tested in the past 3-5 years continue to be at or below minimum thresholds. The goal here is 20 ppm. Understanding sulfur’s role in nitrogen efficiency and phosphorus and micronutrient availability makes sulfur an easy investment. Understanding a plant needs sulfur, utilized in the SO4 (Sulfate) form as much as it needs phosphorus which it utilizes in the P2O5 (Phosphate) form. And there’s really no reason to skimp on it if you need it. Ammonium Thiosulfate 12-0-0-26 is the easiest form to work with if you primarily use liquid fertilizer on your farm, and both Ammonium Sulfate and Elemental Sulfur can be used in a dry form.
So like I said earlier, it’s simple and complex. The simple part is collecting the information, the complex part is developing the plan that both meets the needs of the crop and returns us the highest ROI.
But the most important part to remember is if you don’t have a plan now, time is of the essence!
-Matt Long
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