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Circumstances could lead to less fertilizer this spring

Some growers might be forced to cut back on fertilizer this spring.

University of Minnesota Extension soil fertility specialist Daniel Kaiser says applications were limited last fall, and there’s concern a wet spring could put a lot of farmers even further behind.

“This might be a good time to start evaluating some of the fields because one thing we know, particularly with P and K, if you’re in a situation where you’ve built to a high to very high level that skipping a year or maybe waiting for the fall isn’t necessarily a bad alternative.”

He tells Brownfield using a starter fertilizer at planting could still result in maximum corn yields.

“Be looking at some options right now because if we’re in a situation like last year where things were getting fairly delayed, I don’t think I’d be delaying planting to wait for a broadcast application of fertilizer to be put on. Particularly if you’ve taken care of things in previous years and soils are testing high.”

Kaiser says the focus for fertility in corn needs to be on nitrogen and sulphur.  With phosphorous and potassium, he suggests growers have the flexibility to reduce rates without much if any yield drag.