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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):
Listeners, welcome back to The Dirt. Glad you’re joining us this week. We’ve got another episode we’re bringing to you today. Now, we have kind of stepped around this topic several times in some of our previous episodes, but we wanted to stop and take a minute and go back and focus on the 4R’s and see exactly what we’re talking about when we’re talking about 4R nutrient stewardship.
(00:58):
To help us do that today, well, we’ve got nutrient senior agronomist, Dr. Cristie Preston back with us today, Cristie comes to us from a southeast part of Kansas. Cristie, glad to have you back on the show with us today.
Dr. Cristie Preston (01:10):
Oh, thanks for having me, Mike.
Mike Howell (01:12):
How is everything in Kansas? Last time we talked, it seems like Kansas was burning up, no rain in sight and the crops were in pretty bad condition. Has any of that changed?
Dr. Cristie Preston (01:22):
Well, if you’re above I70, yes. If you’re below it, it’s kind of hit or miss on moisture here lately, so we’re actually pretty dry down here in the southeast corner.
Mike Howell (01:32):
Yeah, we had Dr. Brian Arnall from Oklahoma State on a couple of weeks ago and he said it’s the same way in Oklahoma, just couldn’t get a rain when they needed it this year. We sure hate that for our farming people in that part of the country, but hopefully next year will be better.
(01:46):
So Dr. Preston, let’s dig in and talk about 4R Nutrients stewardship. I guess to start things off, what do we mean when we say the 4Rs? What are the 4Rs?
Dr. Cristie Preston (01:55):
Mike, it’s actually really simple. The 4Rs are the right fertilizer applied at the right rate, at the right time in the right placement. And so what this program is kind of set up to do is to match your fertilizer with what the crop needs, applied at the right rate that that crop needs to maximize yield. The right timing, apply it when the crop is actively going to be taking up those nutrients and put it in the right place. So different nutrients can be placed in broadcasting or banding, putting it next to the crop so that the crop has the maximum capacity to be able to take up these nutrients.
Mike Howell (02:37):
Well, that sounds just like common sense stuff when we really break it down and look at it that way. Obviously, we want to apply these nutrients so that they’re in the best place at the best timing and for these crops. So what is the overall goal of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Program?
Dr. Cristie Preston (02:53):
There are a lot of misconceptions around the 4Rs. I feel like people look at it as a program that I have to follow this, this and this, and it’s not necessarily. It’s just a framework of questions to help you maximize your cropping system goals by increasing your productivity, increasing your farm’s profitability, your ROI, your bottom line, but also at the same time protecting the environment from these nutrients being lost and of course improving sustainability as well.
Mike Howell (03:25):
Okay. You mentioned sustainability and I’m glad you did. I’ll go ahead and let everybody know that beginning next week we’re going to start a program about sustainability and go through several weeks talking with different people and try to hone in a little bit more on what this sustainability means, but we’ll leave it at that for today. But glad you mentioned that today. Give listeners something to tune into in the coming weeks.
(03:46):
So Dr. Preston, you kept saying that the program was for your fields and for your cropping systems, so it sounds like this is something that could be different for every grower that’s using this. Is it the same across the board for each crop or is it going to change from location to location and different crops?
Dr. Cristie Preston (04:02):
It’s definitely going to change by location. Well, they are for the framework, but your individual questions are going to be site specific. What are the best management practices that you can utilize on your fields to maximize nutrient supply to the crops?
(04:19):
Believe it or not, Mike, farmers really don’t want to apply more nutrients than what the crop needs or what the crop can take up. I mean, if those nutrients are lost to the environment, then that means that’s a negative on their ROI. So it’s a good idea to have a general framework that farmers can work around to ask that next question, what is my next step that I can do? Speaking about this fall and looking forward to maybe your nitrogen applications, can I split apply, putting the nitrogen there whenever the crop’s taking it up actively and reduced losses? That’s going to eventually affect my ROI.
Mike Howell (05:00):
Dr. Preston, if it’s different for everybody, let’s talk a little bit about how things could be different. If I’m in a deep sandy soil here on the Gulf Coast and applying nitrogen, how is my best management practices going to be different from somewhere like where you are in the Great Plains with different soil types and things like that? How would things be different for the two areas?
Dr. Cristie Preston (05:19):
Well, Mike, you’re more subject to losses, and correct me if I’m wrong, you really don’t have a lot of fall application. Here in the Midwest, farmers are trying to get over more acres, and so fall applications, specifically for nitrogen, are major part of their management practices. Being able to apply it this fall is a great tool, especially whenever weather conditions next spring can prove troublesome for some field work, whenever your ultimate goal next spring is to get the crop in the ground. But areas that are more subject to losses, you really have to look at split applying or using some type of product that can protect those nutrients before they can be taken up by the plant.
Mike Howell (06:03):
Okay. Well, that’s going to dig in a little deeper, and we’ve kind of mentioned some of these products on some previous episodes, but it’s not a bad time to refresh growers’ memory with some of these in enhanced deficiency products and things that are going to help protect some of these fertilizer products. Can you talk a little bit about some of these enhanced efficiency products? What are we talking about here?
Dr. Cristie Preston (06:22):
Well, you’ve got your nitrogen stabilizers and then you’ve got some other products on the market, like the polymer coated ureas that protect against leaching losses, volatility losses. At the end of the day, they all have one main goal, to prevent nitrogen from being lost by the various mechanisms or various transformations of nitrogen within the soil. And again, at the end of the day to use these products, and they vary based on the type of nitrogen that you’re applying, you can better protect that nitrogen so it is there whenever the crop can take it up.
Mike Howell (07:00):
Well, Dr. Preston, we’ve talked a lot about nitrogen already in previous episodes. We’ve mentioned protecting that nitrogen, but are there other nutrients that the 4Rs are dealing with or is it primarily just nitrogen?
Dr. Cristie Preston (07:11):
So there are definitely some nutrients in our program that have the greatest ROI associated with them, and those are the ones that we soil sample form most commonly, phosphorus and potassium. By managing those nutrients appropriately, we can definitely work on increasing our ROI. But at the same time, if we bring in the environmental aspect of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship, we’re mainly looking at nitrogen and phosphorus. Those are the two that have the greatest risk of causing environmental impacts if those nutrients leave the field.
(07:48):
Now in recent years, the 4R program has expanded to include some of the secondary nutrients as well as micronutrients. Again, just trying to create questions around what management practices am I doing today and what can I do tomorrow to better my yield, better protect my nutrients?
(08:10):
I’m a huge component of on-farm research. So if a farmer has a question of, do I need to try a different practice> can I apply it a different way? I advocate for side-by-side strip trials in the field just to see if there’s any changes with adopting a new practice. You’ve got the comparison right there in front of you.
Mike Howell (08:33):
Well, Dr. Preston, you mentioned several nutrients and expanding the program to some of the other nutrients. One that specifically comes to mind is sulfur. 20 years ago, we didn’t think a lot about sulfur and didn’t apply a whole lot of sulfur, but things have changed and a lot more sulfur is being applied and probably rightfully so. These crops are showing more sulfur deficiencies these days for various reasons. But is sulfur something that can fit into the 4R program?
Dr. Cristie Preston (08:58):
Absolutely, Mike. Sulfur can fit into the 4R program specifically if we’re looking at sulfur sources, mainly you’ve got two choices, elemental and sulfate. Now, sulfate kind of follows a similar loss mechanism as nitrate nitrogen. It can be leached, especially in soils that are coarse textured, low organic matter, and sulfate is readily plant available. It can be taken up as soon as it’s applied, so it really works good for either a pre-plant or at planting or an in-season application. But I err on the side of caution and say you have to make sure that you don’t have an environment where sulfate might leach a high probability of sulfate leaching.
(09:46):
Elemental sulfur on the other hand has to be oxidized to the sulfate form, and that requires some amount of time, and so it’s not readily plant available, but could be applied, say this fall.
Mike Howell (09:59):
Dr. Preston, you mentioned it is a lot like nitrate, losing the nitrate in our soil. Do we have any enhanced deficiency products with sulfur that could help growers out like we do with nitrogen?
Dr. Cristie Preston (10:10):
Nutrient actually has a new product, Smart Nutrition MAP+MST, where the sulfur is in the elemental form, and yes, that does scare some people because elemental sulfur does take time to oxidize to sulfate before it’s plant available. The particle size is small enough that the oxidation rate is increased compared to conventional granular elemental sulfur, as well as the sulfur is actually mixed into the MAP granule, and that allows for maximum fertilizer to soil contact, which also maximizes oxidation rates.
(10:49):
So Smart Nutrition MAP+MST is a great choice for applications this fall. As soil temperatures cool down, you’re not getting those oxidation rates, so it’s going to stay in the elemental form and not be subject to sulfate leaching losses, and it’ll be available next spring. So whenever soil temperatures begin to warm back up, you’ll get the microbial activity. You’ll get the oxidation rates, and that sulfur will be available whenever the crop is actively growing.
Mike Howell (11:18):
Dr. Preston, you’ve touched on this a little bit, but if you would discuss some of the benefits from using a 4R nutrient management program.
Dr. Cristie Preston (11:25):
Overall, the biggest benefits are focused around improving productivity, so you’re trying to optimize nutrient management, and this is especially important in times of high fertilizer prices. We’re really trying to improve nutrient use efficiency. So growing more yield per pound of nutrient, higher crop yields with better crop and soil management, really trying to be stewards, and we don’t treat our soil like dirt. Reduce environmental impacts. Again, we’re focusing on the nutrients that have the highest potential for causing environmental concerns, nitrogen and phosphorus that may run off a field and affect bodies of water.
Mike Howell (12:10):
What is the 4R Advocate Program? What are we talking about when we hear this term?
Dr. Cristie Preston (12:15):
Mike, I’m glad you asked about the 4R Advocate Program because this is a program that I’ve followed for the past couple of years, and the Fertilizer Institute has put together this competition where it brings both the retailer and the grower as a pair together to promote the 4R Stewardship.
(12:37):
Actually, applications are open right now, so anybody that implements 4Rs on their farm, and if you have questions on whether or not you’re actually implementing the 4R program, you’re more than welcome to reach out to us and get more information. What it’s really set to do is bring together and educate fertilizer manufacturers and retailers, growers and other agriculture stakeholders about nutrient stewardship and really work with their farmers to become better stewards.
Mike Howell (13:11):
Okay, Dr. Preston, and as you mentioned, growers can reach out to any of the agronomists here at Nutrient to help get more information on that. Is there any other sources of information? Are there any websites that growers could look at to help get more information about the 4R program?
Dr. Cristie Preston (13:25):
Yes. The Fertilizer Institute actually has another website called 4rfarming.org, and I actually went on that website earlier this week. They have a basic questionnaire that talks you through the management practices that you’re already implementing on your farm. And then at the very end, it gives you kind of a basic summary of the good things that you’re doing on your farm that are within the 4R framework, but also some additional thoughts for what you could do for the next growing season.
(13:59):
Again, it’s not a program that you have to follow. It’s just a set of questions that’s put together in a framework that can keep you thinking on, what can I do? What is my next step to maximize my productivity?
Mike Howell (14:15):
So basically this is stuff that farmers are doing anyway, and this is just a system to help them think in terms of this a little better and focus their efforts into making sure the nutrients are being applied correctly. Is that right?
Dr. Cristie Preston (14:27):
Yes.
Mike Howell (14:27):
Dr. Preston, we’ve talked a lot about the 4Rs today. Is there anything else you want to talk about today? Or what’s the key take home message to growers today?
Dr. Cristie Preston (14:35):
Mike, the take home message is farmers are already doing a lot of great practices, as you alluded to earlier. They’re taking soil samples. They’re variable rating certain nutrients. It’s not like we’re bashing them and saying that they’re not doing a good job. It’s just the environments are constantly changing. Fertilizers are changing, and farmers need to be willing to evolve with those changes. And I believe that the 4Rs offers a good framework for asking the next question.
(15:08):
I feel like I’m beating a dead horse, but if you’re thinking about fertilizer applications this fall, make sure that you’re following certain field characteristics so that you can prevent losses. So say, I can apply my nitrogen after the soil temperatures decrease below 50 degrees to ensure that those loss mechanisms are minimalized as much as possible. And then again, look at when the crop is growing because that’s when the crops are taking up the most nutrients.
Mike Howell (15:41):
Dr. Preston, we sure appreciate you being here with us today and talking about the 4R Nutrient Management program.
(15:50):
Listeners, it’s that time again. It’s the time that we start talking about football and our tailgating for the week. Dr. Preston, do you have a favorite football team?
Dr. Cristie Preston (15:59):
Mike, I have several, but I won’t mention a couple of them because they didn’t have necessarily the best week ever, but shout out to Kansas State last week for whipping up on Oklahoma, taking down a ranked team, moving up into that 25th ranked position. It was a good week.
Mike Howell (16:16):
Yeah, there were a lot of people excited about that game. I have to say, I did tune in to the end of that one as well. Kind of exciting there at the end.
(16:23):
Dr. Preston, have you ever done any tailgating? What’s your favorite tailgate food?
Dr. Cristie Preston (16:28):
We tend to haul our smoker whenever we do some tailgating. One of our favorite tailgating foods here recently is actually pimento cheese dip with jalapeno jelly in a cast iron and smoke it.
Mike Howell (16:44):
Oh, wow. That sounds really good. May have to get your recipe for that and try that one night.
Dr. Cristie Preston (16:49):
Well, it’s actually really simple, Mike. I get pimento cheese dip from Sam’s Club and pepper jelly out of a can. We tried making our own this year, but that didn’t work out too well. But open up one. Open up the other and kind of put the pepper jelly in the middle. Put it in the cast iron and put it on the smoker. It’s as simple as you can and eat it with some type of pita chip or some type of cracker.
Mike Howell (17:14):
I thought what I would do this week at our high school football game is cook up a big pot of jambalaya. Now that’s a southern Louisiana staple. And basically if you don’t know what jambalaya is, it’s a lot of different herbs and spices. We’ll have things like onions and green peppers, red peppers, different types of peppers, and some hot sauce in there. We’re going to have a little bit of okra in it, but the main ingredient in that is going to be the rice. That’s going to be the base to all this. And then depending on how you’re making it, you can put any kind of protein in that you want. Now, my family kind of likes a lot of protein in there, so we’re going to have a little chicken in it. We’re going to have some sausage in it, and we’re also going to put some shrimp in there as well. So we’re going to make sure we cover the protein aspect.
(17:57):
But what I wanted to really focus in on, the commodity of the week this week is going to be rice. So I did a little lookin’, and in the United States, so we produce about 20 billion pounds of rice every year. The main states that grow this rice are Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas, and those states produce about 2.8 million acres of rice every year. Worldwide, the United States ain’t that big in the rice production. The top producers are going to be China and India.
(18:29):
And then when we look at consumption, Americans consume very little rice, compared to some other places. Americans are going to consume about 10 cups of rice per year, but if we look at Asia, for instance, they may consume five to 10 cups of rice per day. So rice is a lot more important part of their diet than it is for Americans. I did a little searching and found that more than 20% of the daily calorie intake for the world’s population is with rice. So that tells you how important rice is in the world diet.
(19:00):
Dr. Preston, any experience with rice? I know they don’t grow a whole lot of rice in Kansas.
Dr. Cristie Preston (19:05):
Yeah, no experience with growing rice, eating quite a bit of it, though. I do enjoy rice.
Mike Howell (19:11):
Well, listeners, we had another great night of football Friday night. Poplarville Hornets had defeated the Purvis Tornadoes by a score of 42 to nothing. Now that improves their record to five wins and only one loss. They have moved up to number one in the four A standings with that win this weekend. So they are on quite a roll as they enter district play. They’re one and oh in the district. They got another two game coming up this week, so we’ll see how that turns out.
(19:40):
I want to encourage everyone to tune in again next week. We’ll be beginning our discussion on sustainability. We’ll have some more tailgating tips and give you the updates from this week’s ballgame. Until next time, this has been Mike Howell, with The Dirt.
