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Mike Howell (00:08):
The Dirt with me, Mike Howell, an eKonomics podcast where I present the down and dirty agronomic science to help grow crops and bottom lines. Inspired by eKonomics.com, farming’s go-to informational resource, I’m here to break down the latest crop nutrition research, news, and issues helping farmers make better business decisions through actionable insights. Let’s dig in.
(00:38):
Welcome back to The Dirt, listeners. We’re glad you’re joining us today. We are on the road again. This week, we’re coming to you live from St. Louis, Missouri. Most of our agronomy team is here in St. Louis along with the marketing rep. So we’ve got a series of meetings going on this week, and I have caught up with Dr. Allen Blaylock. Allen, how are you today?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (00:57):
I’m doing good, Mike. It’s a pleasure to be here in St. Louis with everyone.
Mike Howell (01:01):
Yeah, it’s great to finally get back out on the road. We spent so much time locked up with COVID and getting to get back out and socialize with everybody and catch up and get some work done as well. Alan, you’ve been on the program several times. I don’t think we need to introduce you again, but today I thought we would kick off and start talking about fall nitrogen applications. Harvest is underway in most areas and people are going to be starting to think about putting out some nitrogen in some of these areas where they can put out nitrogen in the fall. So if you would give us a few tips and pointers and where can we think about putting out nitrogen in the fall for next spring?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (01:34):
Well, Mike, there’s certainly lots to think about when we start evaluating our fall fertilizer program, and particularly with relation to nitrogen. Obviously there’s a concern about putting nitrogen on in the fall. Is it going to be there in the spring? And so there’s certainly some guidelines around that. So I would say first of all, let’s look at our environment. Are we in an environment where nitrogen could be lost over winter or early the next spring before we’ve got a crop growing there? So that’s one of the first things we want to look at.
(02:05):
We also want to look at our soil type. If I’m in a sandy soil that may be prone to leaching over winter or even this fall yet, probably want to avoid fall nitrogen applications there. If we do have an environment where fall nitrogen is suitable, where we have minimal risk of that over winter loss, then we want to look at when do we want to apply it? And typically the guidelines are around that fall nitrogen to wait until the soil is cold, wait until the biological activity is slowed down and is going to remain cold. The guideline is usually 50 degree mark. Once the soil temperatures below that, our nitrification rates are slowing down so that the nitrogen we put on will stay in the ammonium form. That helps keep it in the soil over winter so that we reduce the losses that we might have.
Mike Howell (02:56):
Okay, Alan, well, we appreciate that information. Geographically, where are we talking about? Cold weather conditions are in my part of the world, if it gets into the 60 degree range, we go grab a jacket. And we come up to Colorado in the wintertime and it’s 30 degrees, everybody’s running around in a t-shirt. So help us out geographically, where are we talking about and define that cold weather a little bit better.
Dr. Alan Blaylock (03:17):
Yeah, so typically geographically areas where we see fall nitrogen as well, I’ll call an acceptable practice. Some areas of the Northern corn belt like Minnesota, Northern Iowa. As we move over into the Dakotas, we are certainly going to have cold soils there through the winter. Those soils are typically frozen during the winter, so we don’t have movement, we don’t have the loss occurring.
(03:41):
Also, when we look at drier areas where we just don’t have the precipitation to drive the loss. So much of the plain, fall nitrogen would be an acceptable practice because we simply don’t have the potential for over winter loss. So again, taking a look at typical precipitation conditions, do I have the drivers of nitrogen loss and do I have the temperature that would allow that to convert to nitrate nitrogen, which is the form from which you’re going to lose it?
(04:08):
So look at the combination of those things. But again, northern corn belt, fall nitrogen application is a fairly common practice, particularly with anhydrous and then into the plains. And there are parts of other geographies like the Pacific Northwest where there’s some fall nitrogen use. Now we can get into some other things. There are some specific cases where fall nitrogen might be appropriate. Say for example, we have winter wheat going in to an area where maybe we don’t want to put our nitrogen on in the fall, but that wheat crop still can benefit from a small amount of nitrogen that’s going on at planting to get that crop started off right, to develop some tillers and provide for the health of that crop as it comes out in the spring. We don’t need a lot of nitrogen to do that, but a small amount, maybe less than 40 or 50 units might be appropriate for a crop like that.
(04:59):
There are also cases where we say have a forage crop, either a perennial forage or in some cases we have winter grazing in parts of the South. Those crops are going to need to be fed and putting some nitrogen on in the fall on those crops is still also beneficial. So there are certain cases where fall nitrogen may be appropriate for a fall or winter crop where otherwise for a spring crop we would not recommend it. So there are these kinds of exceptions and caveats to this whole fall nitrogen story.
Mike Howell (05:32):
Okay Alan, what about any of our inhibitors or slow release products, things like that? Do we need to worry with any of those this time of year or are they just as important now as they are in the spring applications?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (05:44):
I think in many cases they’re just as important, maybe even more important for those fall treatments. Let’s take anhydrous applications in the Northern corn belt. There’s lots of evidence to show that that can benefit from the addition of a nitrification inhibitor. For example, N-Serve or Centuro going in with that fall ammonia to keep it in the ammonium form longer until that soil gets shut down basically, the biological activity gets shut down. So those inhibitors can be a benefit there.
(06:13):
Another example is a slow release product like ESN, which can protect that nitrogen over winter, but we still have the same precautions of not applying it too early. We don’t want the nitrogen to become available too early in the fall where it’s going to convert to nitrate. So for example, with our ESN product, we make the same recommendation that one would make for ammonia, wait till the soil is cold below 50 degrees and it’s going to stay cold. That will keep the nitrogen from releasing from that product. So there are these considerations, and again, those products may be even more important for fall application.
Mike Howell (06:48):
Alan, you mentioned a couple of sources of nitrogen, ammonia and then the ESN. What about plain old urea? Can we use regular urea as a fall application?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (06:58):
Urea can be used as a fall application. It’s going to convert to nitrate more quickly than anhydrous ammonia. So again, we want to be a little bit careful. There’s a bit higher risk there of that over winter loss, but there’s quite a bit of urea used in the Northern plains in environments where we don’t have that winter risk of loss. And so urea makes a fine application. It’s still going to be there in the spring when the crop is growing.
(07:25):
So it’s not that we can’t use urea in the fall, but we have more risk and we need to be careful to manage that. And there are obviously certain areas where we just don’t want to apply urea in the fall. There’s areas where we just don’t want to apply any nitrogen in the fall. And I know that I maybe making this a bit more complex than some of our listeners want it to be, but we really need to analyze the environment, the soils risk of loss and the agronomics that we want to manage around those factors.
Mike Howell (07:56):
Alan, we talked a little bit about sources. We’ve talked a little bit about timing on this nitrogen. What about the rate? Do we want to put a full rate out there or half rate, how much nitrogen can we put out in the fall?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (08:08):
Great question, Mike. And I would say that’s going to depend on the crop and the environment. For example, I mentioned winter wheat. Winter wheat in the eastern part of the country where we have high rainfall, we have a greater risk of loss, I really only want to put part of my nitrogen on in the fall. Just enough to get it started. If I move West, for example, some of our corn growers putting anhydrous down in the Western corn belt where risk of loss is low, they may be able to put all their nitrogen on in the fall.
(08:38):
Although generally I think we can say just as a broad statement, the risk of putting it on into fall is greater than putting it on in spring. The risk of loss is greater from fall applied than from spring. So if we can split the nitrogen, that’s usually going to be preferred. But keep in mind, there are cases where we can put it all on and cases of higher risk where we don’t want to put it all on, we want to split it maybe only a small amount or maybe only a portion in the fall.
Mike Howell (09:07):
So Alan, we’re talking about putting out nitrogen in the fall. We know we can put it out in the spring just as well. What are the benefits of trying to get this application out in the fall versus the spring? You mentioned that we could still lose it if we put it out in the fall. So why would a grower be interested in doing that?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (09:23):
There are some trade-offs that we may have to make. For example, fall conditions, we usually have dryer conditions, we usually have better conditions for field work than in the spring. In much of the country, spring soil conditions are kind of wet and we may be delayed or may have greater risk of compaction or delaying our planting operation. So one of the benefits of putting nitrogen on in the fall, if we can, is to have those better soil conditions and have that work done so that we don’t have to delay planting to allow that fertilizer application to get done. So that’s one of the benefits of fall application where we can do that.
(10:04):
One of the other benefits is we often see better pricing in the fall. So this is just a function of the markets and this isn’t always the case, but often there are pricing programs or promotional pricing to move that nitrogen in the fall. The manufacturers want to keep producing, they want to get that product out. And so there may be pricing benefits and just fluctuations of the market that allow for a better price in the fall than in the spring. But again, if we consider there’s this risk of loss over winter, and so we have to weigh that risk against the advantages of workload pricing and these kinds of things, and really look at it in the entire context of our operation.
Mike Howell (10:50):
Well, Alan, we focused this episode on nitrogen and nitrogen management. Let’s talk just a second about P and K. Can we blend all of these nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, put them all out at one time in the fall if we’re going through the field anyway? Or do we need to wait till spring with the P and the K?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (11:06):
Well, the P and K can usually go on in the fall. In most cases, they’re immobile in the soil, they’re not going to be lost. Phosphate, we may be concerned about runoff, say if we’re in no-till and we have to broadcast P on the surface. The potential loss there is runoff. If we have runoff events, high rainfall, particularly on frozen soils where we’ve got the phosphate sitting on the surface. So we do want to be aware of that.
(11:30):
But generally, P and K are considered immobile in the soil and they can go on in the fall, and we’re not so much worried about the timing aside from the consideration for potential runoff loss. Now sometimes in these environments where fall nitrogen application is acceptable, where it’s a reasonably safe practice, we can blend it all in one application. For example, we have areas where strip till is popular in the fall. Fall strip till, putting those nutrients down in a band where it’s appropriate to put nitrogen on in the fall, that’s a great complete program, one pass, and you’re ready to plant on top of that in the spring. So that can be a great convenience to get that done in the fall.
(12:11):
Other cases where we are not putting nitrogen on in the fall, we can put P and K on in the fall, but then we need to come back with the nitrogen in the spring just to avoid the risk of loss. And really when we talk about nitrogen loss, yes, it’s an environmental risk. We know about those risks to air and water quality from over winter nitrogen loss, but remember that every pound of nitrogen that’s lost is also an economic loss to the farmer. So if you have that risk, that’s an economic risk as well. And you don’t want to spend money on nitrogen that’s not going to be there in the spring. And the data are clear, particularly through much of the corn belt and the Southern states that fall nitrogen isn’t as efficient in most of those areas as spring nitrogen. And so I’m going to get more for my fertilizer dollar putting that nitrogen on in the spring in these areas where we have that risk of loss.
Mike Howell (13:05):
Alan, you just mentioned stripe till and how it’s a benefit if we’re strip tilling, we can put that in with a strip till. What about placement on this nitrogen? Can we broadcast that nitrogen on top of the ground and be okay? Or do we need to get it incorporated? What do we need to do?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (13:20):
Well, really for all of our nutrients, their safest. If they’re put in the ground. P and K being immobile, in the ground puts them in better contact with the root system. So if we can band it or we’re going to incorporate in some way, that’s usually better. But in terms of nitrogen, putting it in the ground is going to reduce, just like with phosphate, going to reduce the risk of runoff. It’s going to eliminate the risk of volatilization. So generally, if we can get it in the ground, that’s better than leaving it on the surface. Now with no-till, that obviously isn’t possible without some soil disturbance, and that’s why some guys favor the strip till application, which personally I’m a fan of that process. Strip till and banded nutrients. I like banded fertilizer just in general for a lot of reasons.
(14:06):
But particularly for fall applications, if we have nutrients remaining on the soil surface over winter, the soil freezes. We get runoff events. We get thawing in the spring with water running off before it’s soaking into the soil while that soil’s still frozen. That presents that risk of loss. So putting it in the ground, if we can place it either in a band or some kind of tillage operation to get it in the soil rather than leaving it on the surface, that’s generally going to be preferred.
Mike Howell (14:36):
Alan, one other issue that comes to mind, I’d never have to deal with this in my part of the world. But several years ago I heard a lot of talk about putting nitrogen out if the ground already had snowfall on it. What are the recommendations if snows already fallen, or what do they need to be aware of?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (14:52):
Well, if the snow has fallen and the soil is not yet frozen, then as that snow melts, it can carry the nitrogen into the soil. If snow falls on frozen ground, we don’t want to be putting fertilizer there because it’s not going to go into the ground. It’s going to be sitting on this hard frozen surface. And if we have melting, we have runoff, then those are events of big nitrogen and phosphorus loss as well.
(15:20):
So it kind of depends on the circumstance, but we often can get a fall snow and the soil underneath isn’t frozen yet. And the snow’s going to kind of insulate it. So as that snow slowly melts, we can get that into the ground. So that can be okay, it can be an acceptable practice, but we really want to be concerned about runoff losses in those kind of conditions
Mike Howell (15:40):
Fall is also football season. And we’ve been talking a little bit about football at the end of these podcasts. What’s your favorite football team?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (15:47):
I still follow my alumnus teams, BYU and Iowa State University. Those are schools where I got my education, so I still follow their programs. And Mike, you’re going to love this one. Pretty much anybody that’s playing an SEC team, I kind of root for those guys. Being a westerner and growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we tend to be more loyal to the PAC 12 and our Western teams. And so there’s a lot of rivalries between our Western teams and those in the Southeast where you’re at. And so you and I rib each other all the time about these rivalries.
Mike Howell (16:23):
I understand, some people like to pull for the underdog every time so we can understand that. One thing we can agree on is we love to eat good food. We’re talking about tailgating the lot though at the high school football games. What’s your favorite tailgate food?
Dr. Alan Blaylock (16:36):
Well, I haven’t tailgated a lot, but I’ll tell you a couple things I’m kind of partial to. I always love good barbecue. I like chicken wings. If it’s meat, I’m probably going to be interested, but barbecue would be one of my favorite tailgate foods.
Mike Howell (16:51):
Okay. Well, you mentioned barbecue, and it just so happens this week we’re going to be doing some barbecue. I found Boston Butts on sale at the grocery store this week. I bought about four Boston Butts, and we’re going to put those in the air fryer when I get home and cook those real slow. When they get done, we’re going to pull them apart and have pulled pork and put some barbecue sauce on that. Put it in the slow cooker and let it cook a little bit more in the slow cooker and soak in that barbecue sauce and have some pull pork sandwiches at the tailgate this week. And we’re on the road this week, so it’s going to be a little more difficult to do the tailgate. We actually have to travel about three hours to the football game this week, so we’re going to keep it simple and we’re just going to do the pulled pork and we’re going to do chips and dip and that kind of stuff to go with it. But we’re going to keep it real simple this week.
(17:38):
Alan, we always spotlight one commodity each week. And since you have a lot of experience in the potato industry, and we’re talking about having some chips and dip this week, tell us a little bit about potatoes in the US and the markets on potatoes.
Dr. Alan Blaylock (17:51):
Potatoes are an important crop in a lot of ways. In terms of acreage, really fairly small acres, they’re pretty insignificant in terms of acreage in comparison to things like corn and wheat and soybeans. But on a global scale, potatoes are one of the most consumed food crops behind wheat and rice. So they’re a really important staple crop in many parts of the world. Now, I love potatoes. I grew up eating potatoes. I grew up in the Northwest. I always love good french fries, baked potatoes, potatoes au gratin. It’s hard to get me to walk away from any kind of potato dish. I really like potatoes.
(18:31):
But potatoes are a really interesting crop as an agronomist because they require some pretty high level management to grow a good crop of high quality potatoes. And it’s a constant management through the season. Now, I don’t want to really oversimplify the growing of some of the other crops, but corn in the Midwest, in a rain fed environment, it’s fairly simple to grow. It’s pretty straightforward. And there’s a lot of things that are beyond our control because we’re not irrigating, we’re relying on the weather. But potatoes require constant day-to-day management.
(19:02):
There’s always something. There’s lots of pests that we have to worry about. Fertility management is pretty tricky. We have to have enough of the nutrients at the right time, but excess nutrients, particularly nitrogen, can cause quality problems. We get a lot of vine growth and not such good potatoes. So the management of potatoes as a crop, as an agronomist, we can have a lot of fun with that because there’s a lot of challenges in that everyday kind of management that has to be implemented to grow a high yielding, high quality crop.
Mike Howell (19:35):
I don’t have a whole lot of experience growing potatoes. What little I do have was with my dad back in the family garden. And as far back as I can remember, we planted a bunch of potatoes and we’d always plant those early in the spring. And when they got ready, we’d go out there and start stealing a few potatoes out from under the vines. And when they finally got mature, we would dig them up and I’d have to tote that bushel basket full of potatoes.
(19:58):
I always remember that. We would store those potatoes and eat on them all year long. I wouldn’t sit down at supper time if mama didn’t have some kind of potatoes sitting on the table. So we just want to say thanks to all our potato growers out there. Alan, I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day to visit with us and give the growers some information about nitrogen going out in this fall situation. I hope you have a great time here in St. Louis.
Dr. Alan Blaylock (20:22):
Great. We’re looking forward to taking in a Cardinals ballgame here this week as well. Cardinals have some players that I like to watch, some really fine players, and so I kind of follow the Cardinals because of some of the players they got. And I’m a big baseball fan. I like watching baseball. I’ve always followed baseball and I like watching some of these really talented players and some of the things they can do on the field.
Mike Howell (20:49):
Well, listeners, another Friday night is in the record books. The Poplarville Hornets have defeated the Lumberton Panthers by a score of 48 to nothing. Had a really good week this weekend. Football team is getting on track and looking really good. Next week we travel to Terry, Mississippi. We have our first road game of the year. It should be a really good ball game next week.
(21:11):
Tune in next week to The Dirt. Find out what’s on the tailgate menu for next week, as well as the latest update on the football season. Until next time, this has been Mike Howell with The Dirt.
