This Season’s Top 5 Crop Nutrition Insights and Takeaways
Summary of what you'll find
- Nitrogen management is risk management
- Trade policies, weather, and geopolitics shape the global fertilizer industry
- Consistency is essential to thrive through economic swings on the farm
- New tools and tech can help you achieve your agronomic and economic goals
- Your nutrients are not working in isolation
Season four of The Dirt PodKast brought together an outstanding lineup of agricultural leaders, agronomists, economists, university extension specialists, and farmers from across the United States and Canada to explore the ever-changing landscape of crop nutrition and production, input management, and on-farm economics.
From deep dives into fertilizer supply chains and tariffs to expert insights for soil testing, nutrient management, and sustainability, this season offered growers and agronomists timely insights they can put to work in the field next year. This article summarizes the top five insights we uncovered throughout the season.
1. Nitrogen management is risk management.
A decade of experience in the field can teach you a lot about nitrogen management. Two different guests joined us throughout season four to explore the insights they’ve discovered throughout their careers.
In episode 13, The Hidden Risks In Your Nitrogen Program, Dr. Fabián G. Fernández, a professor from the University of Minnesota, joined Mike Howell to share the top four things he’s learned about managing nitrogen in corn over the last 10 years.
“We all know nitrogen is expensive, and so we need to manage nitrogen to the best of our ability to make sure we get a good return on the investment. We know that if we over apply nitrogen, or we apply it at the wrong time or use the wrong source, we can stand to lose quite a bit,” Dr. Fernández shared. “Nitrogen management is risk management, so you really need to be in tune with the conditions that you have in your field,” he added.
From the yield advantage of spring applications, the benefits of drained soils, and the best source to apply in the fall to the value of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and tips for preventing loss, these episodes uncover expert tips in nitrogen management to help you achieve better results:
Episode 13: The Hidden Risks In Your Nitrogen Program
Episode 28: Nitrogen Management: Lessons from the Prairies
2. Trade policies, weather, and geopolitics shape the global fertilizer industry.
Several episodes brought together experts to explore how weather, global trade policies, and geopolitics shape the fertilizer supply chain, from pricing to availability.
In episode two, Tariffs Explained: What It Means for Agriculture, the President and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), Corey Rosenbusch, explored what policy discussions are at the forefront of agriculture this season and how TFI is advocating on behalf of the industry. From passing a new farm bill to exploring the impacts of tariffs on fertilizer supplies, this episode explores how TFI influences the policies and decisions shaping what’s happening on the farm.
In episode 15, What’s Impacting Fertilizer Supply This Season, Mark Tully, Nutrien’s senior manager of market research, further explored how various trade dynamics are impacting this year’s fertilizer supplies and what the current outlook says about each macronutrient: “[Potassium] is a market that’s been driven by really excellent demand. In part because affordability has been good, not just in North America, but all over the world. We’ve seen really strong demand in Latin America and parts of Asia as growers take advantage of that relative affordability for potassium.”
From tight nitrogen and phosphorus availability to the opportunities with potash, these episodes uncover everything you need to know about agriculture’s current market landscape:
Episode 2: Tariffs Explained: What It Means for Agriculture
Episode 15: What’s Impacting Fertilizer Supply This Season?
3. Consistency is essential to thrive through economic swings on the farm.
Another key theme that emerged this season is uncertainty; uncertainties in the field, uncertainties in the market, and the overall unpredictable nature of agriculture. In episode 32, Navigating Farming’s Economic Cycles, Jeff Tarsi, the executive vice president and president of global retail at Nutrien Ag Solutions, uncovered how growers can confidently manage this uncertainty and shared the one characteristic that keeps farms successful during the upswings and challenges of the ag economy.
He shared: “Those that are immensely successful – it doesn’t matter what country they’re in – the characteristics are all the same. They’re very consistent in their operation. They’re very open to new technology. They’re very open to doing things in a different way … and probably the thing that stands out the most is that, in the good times or the bad times, you don’t see a lot of change.”
Listen to the full episode to uncover other tips from Jeff Tarsi that can keep your operation thriving through ag’s economic swings:
Episode 32: Navigating Farming’s Economic Cycles
4. New tools and tech can help you achieve your agronomic and economic goals.
This season spotlighted several innovations and tools that help growers and crop advisors meet both agronomic and economic goals across fields. From soil testing and cover cropping to the use of artificial intelligence and biosensors, experts explored what these tools are, where they fit, the benefits and ROI they offer, and how growers can evaluate their value for their own operation.
In episode 34, How Soil Testing Helps Maximize Your Input Dollars, Mick Goedeken, an agronomist with Waypoint Analytical, shared: “In a year like this, where we’re talking about record high fertilizer values, and we’re dealing with a farm economy that doesn’t look very good and crop prices are not the greatest, it’s hard to be positive. But we have to go and use our best technologies to move forward.”
Whether you’re a farmer, crop advisor, or agronomist, these episodes will help you explore the value that leading innovations like biosensors, soil testing, and cover cropping can play across fields:
Episode 10: Cover Crops: Planting With a Purpose
Episode 29: Tapping Into Crop Conversations With Biosensors
Episode 34: How Soil Testing Helps Maximize Your Input Dollars
5. Your nutrients are not working in isolation.
While it’s common to look at each nutrient and the way it behaves in isolation, nutrients in the soil actually work together more than you think. Each nutrient can affect the availability, uptake, and efficiency of other vital nutrients in the soil. Season four explored these relationships in the soil, particularly with sulfur.
In episode 20, Smarter Sulfur Management, Eve-Lyn Hinckley, a professor and faculty lead from the University of Colorado Boulder, shared: “What we’re finding about sulfur is that it can actually increase the nitrogen use efficiency of crops like corn … it actually makes the plant use the inputs more efficiently and reduce the amount that the farmer has to put on, which is greater for the farmer and the environment.”
Listen to the full episode to further explore the relationship between these essential nutrients and uncover the various roles that sulfur plays, from changing soil pH to controlling pests:
Episode 20: Smarter Sulfur Management
Another season of insights
As we wrap up, we’re grateful to our listeners for tuning into The Dirt. We’re looking forward to sharing another season with you next year. Subscribe today to be notified as soon as new episodes drop and catch up on past episodes ahead of season five.
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