What a season we have experienced so far! The weather has certainly been variable across our marketing area. While some have had an abundance of precipitation, others watched their crop deteriorate from drought. As we look forward to harvest, we must also begin planning for the 2022 crop, and fertility management becomes top of mind.

After the challenges producers faced in 2020, we now face large increases in operating costs, especially commercial fertilizers. In tight commodity prices or, in today’s case: high fertilizer prices, growers often look to cut costs around soil fertility to help the balance sheet.

The spike in fertilizer prices hits home for me personally on our own family farm. This year’s fertilizer prices, that I booked two months ago for this coming season, are close to double in some instances from last year. That brings up many questions as I talk to growers wondering, “Can I safely scale back on my spread amounts this year?”

As we look at everything we do in agriculture, knowledge is power! The more information we gather, the better decisions we can make. In times like this, where we see increased costs to our bottom line, it can become very emotional. It becomes easy to say, “No, I’m not spending that kind of money on my fertilizer plan.” So, before it comes to that, let’s look at some hard numbers and values to assess our fertility needs and plan from there. A basic soil test is a simple way to gather the information that can add value to your operation.

Soil testing isn’t anything new. We have been doing it for years, and it is the base building block for a solid fertility plan. There are many variations of soil testing programs; we can look at grid soil sampling vs. zone sampling. At the end of the day, both are valuable, but one may make more sense for your operation over the other. Having good data is key as we look at soil fertility. While it is very important to look at our macronutrients, micronutrients, and base saturation levels on the soil test and get them into the optimal zones, pH is one to really get dialed in.

The reason we really need to look first at soil pH is because it will determine our nutrient availability to the crop. If our soil pH is out of line, it really doesn’t matter how much fertilizer we throw at it, it won’t be available to the plants. Below is a chart that shows nutrient availability by soil pH. In many fields, the soil fertility levels may be near-optimal, but the crop can’t access it without adjusting the pH of the soil. As you can see in the chart, many nutrients are most available in that 6.0 to 7.0 band. So let’s focus on getting the pH in line first.

When we look at our nutrients that are more mobile in the soil, such as nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) for 2022, those nutrients have also skyrocketed in price from last year. Now since these nutrients are very mobile in the soil, we can look at more efficient ways to apply them to help maintain our bottom line. Split applications are one option that provide a huge value for N and S. Refer to the PFR Proven™ section of the 2020 PFR Book to see what kind of results we have seen over the years from split-applying these nutrients. Split-applying also gives us the opportunity to make better in-season decisions depending on what Mother Nature throws at us.

Another key thing to consider when looking at our fertility plan for next season is crop removal. In times like this, where we want to be considerate of the high fertilizer prices and only apply what we need, look at the removal of the current year’s crop. In a situation like this, we are not building, but rather maintaining, soil fertility. Below is a chart that shows the removal of both a corn and a soybean crop, which can be a guideline for your fall and spring applications.

We look forward to 2022 with optimism, but that starts with a solid fertility plan for our crops. Our crops don’t care what fertilizer prices are in 2022; however we need to ensure ensure optimal nutrition. That’s where a solid look at soil samples and nutrient management pays huge dividends.

Wishing you all a safe harvest!

~ Dale Viktora, CCA – Field Agronomist