March 1996
Lessons Learned in The Last Growing Season
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Lesson 1: Equipment needs for applying anhydrous ammonia are different in wet soils than in dry soils. Last spring, many wet areas in fields had crops turning yellow after emergence because of poor ammonia trench sealing. With wet conditions, better trench sealing is needed. Field cultivator or chisel plow applicators should have a short drag or harrow trailing to cover the trenches. Knife-style applicators need some kind of cover device such as paddles, discs, cable or harrow teeth.
Lesson 2: Soil testing is very important. Producers who soil tested and applied the extra fertilizer indicated by the test generally came out ahead of those who just applied the same amount as the year before. Soil nitrate levels change from year to year and field to field, and the level in a particular field can be determined only from a combination of soil testing and crop history.
Lesson 3: Fertilizer prices are not as important as applying the proper amount of fertilizer. Fertilizer costs were high last spring, but producers who applied the amount needed were generally better off than those who backed off on rates or eliminated fertilizer completely.
Lesson 4: Different crops have different fertilizer requirements. Canola producers learned that sulfur is a very important fertilizer for that crop, and deficiency can cause devastating yield reductions. Applying sulfur in a manner that minimizes leaching and makes sulfur available to the crop when needed is challenging, especially when sulfur has rarely been added to many of these soils before.
Lesson 5: Fall fertilizer helps the spring workload. In loamy and heavier soils, fall nitrogen application in 1994 was a tremendous help to producers able to do it.
In the rush to plant last spring, fertilizer was postponed or, in some cases, eliminated. Crop yields reflect the lower nutrient supply.
Lesson 6: Fertilizer is not a cure-all, but it certainly helps. Crops were hit by many problems last season, including flooding, wind, disease, hail, cold and heat. Fields that were fertilized correctly were hit as hard as those that were not, but fields with proper soil fertility most often emerged with better yields and higher profits than those that were short of nutrients.
Lesson 7: There is still a lot to learn. "About the time some researchers thought they knew all about dryland farming in North Dakota, we entered a period of weather more typical of Illinois or Missouri," Franzen says. "Soil needs and management needs change with each year, and each year has its own challenges. We may use the lessons we learned last year this next season, or we may never need to remember them again."