Fertilizer Planning To Optimize Forage Crop Production
Forage is one of North America’s most important crops, representing a broad group (alfalfa, silage corn, wheatlage, etc.) and including crops grown for the purpose of livestock grazing or to be conserved for a later use such as baling or silage. In this article from the January/February 2024 issue of Progressive Crop Consultant, Dr. Karl Wyant, Nutrien Director of Agronomy, discusses how growers and crop advisors can manage nutrients and plan fertilizer inputs to optimize forage crop production.
Forage crops differ from other crops in that the entire aboveground mass of stems, stalks, leaves, grain, etc. is harvested – which means that a large amount of nutrients are removed from the field when the crop is harvested. This must be taken into consideration when creating a nutrient management plan.
Forage crops may not hit estimated yield and quality goals without proper fertilization – subsequently having a negative impact on soil fertility for future crop rotations. Some of the tools available for forage crop growers and their consultants to help determine mineral fertilizer needs and manage costs include:
- Soil tests
- Water tests
- Manure samples
As with any nutrient management plan, soil and water testing is essential to determine the amount of ‘free’ nutrients that may already be available to crops. Free nutrients or ‘credits’ can be already present in the soil or come in through the irrigation water. Manure is an important source of NPK for forage crops, and conducting lab tests is necessary to help estimate NPK input rates, which vary with different manure types.
Read the full article in the Progressive Crop Consultant to learn more about calculating mineral fertilizer needs from soil, water, and manure tests to drive optimal crop yields and take a closer look into the relationship of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in forage crop fertilizer programs.
