By Darren Hefty

I love this topic, as there are such varying opinions on which fertilizer products, if any, you should be putting in the furrow.  Also, the rates growers are using vary so much around the country and even around your home county.  Let’s set the table for this discussion with a few crop safety rules set in stone.

RULES:

  1. No more than 5 pounds of salt per acre in 30-inch row corn.  This limits 10-34-0 use to no more than 3 gallons per acre in-furrow and even less if you’re adding other fertilizers, such as micronutrients.
  2. You must use at least 5 gallons per acre to get good flowability and an even spread.  Add water to make up the difference.
  3. Keep nitrogen and sulfur to a minimum.  Both can hurt germination and early growth if they are at too great a concentration near the seed.  We’re using a new potassium source this spring called Kalibrate that contains about 6 percent sulfur.  A small amount of sulfur is probably okay; just be sure to keep that rate low.
  4. Jar test.  I got a disturbing message on Twitter the other day from a farmer who said, “No one jar tests. Nobody!”  Don’t be one of those guys who spends a whole day unplugging his system and disposing of a tank full of goo.  Jar test before you get started and every time you get a new batch of fertilizer.  It only takes a minute to do.  For more details, CLICK HERE.

CORN

I have two pieces of advice for corn.

  1. Get product on hand.  Everyone has their favorite products, but this year they are in tight supply in many areas due to shipping issues that have happened over the winter and the delay in cropping decisions due to high priced fertilizer and high priced soybeans on the board.  Get your product on your farm as quickly as you can so you don’t experience delays when you are planting.
  2. Don’t skimp on rates this year (in-furrow as well as fertilizer placed elsewhere).  We’re hearing a lot of talk about cutting P, K, and micros in an effort to become profitable this year.  Keep in mind there are two ways to add to the bottom line: reducing costs is one, but gaining more yield is the other.  If you cut costs on fertilizer it will very likely cut the number of bushels you are able to produce and often leads to poor stalk quality and slow dry-down in the fall.  Plus, micros only cost $5 to $10 per acre, and nearly all farms are low to deficient in one or more micros.  They should almost never be cut because they become a yield limiting factor very quickly.  Do a great job of soil testing, and have someone who actually knows something about how to read a soil test help you interpret the results.  Maybe you can cut back on fertilizer, but you should never just guess where that should come from.

SOYBEANS

Where does this discussion leave soybeans?  One or two gallons per acre in the furrow is really pretty safe in most soils, especially when it is low salt fertilizer blended with three to four gallons of water; pushing it beyond that is really risky.  If you want to put a good amount of fertility out for soybeans with your planter, the best bet is to put it outside the furrow.  Two-by-two placement is one great option, but there are many others that can do the trick.