top 5 mistakes in fertilizer application pdf

8/12/2019 Top 5 Mistakes in Fertilizer Application PDF

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GARY ZIMMERGary Zimmer

heads MidwesternBio-Ag, a manufac-turing and consult-ing company that provides productsand services for sus-tainable agriculture.

He is also an on-farm consultant, managesthe companys learning center, and is a partner in Otter Creek Organic Farm. Heis the author of The Biological Farmer ,the consultants bible for eco-growing.

1. Wrong stuff. Applying a fertilizerthat is too soluble or too insoluble for thesoil conditions is a common problem. Agood example is calcium. Many farmersoverdo lime on soil with a neutral or highpH where not very much of that limewill become available to plants. Anotherproblem I see is when farmers apply a

fertilizer that is not balanced, so thereis too much of some nutrients and notenough of others. There are four factors Ilike to see in a good fertilizer: a blend ofsoluble to slow-release nutrients; a bal-ance of nutrients; concentration (puttingfertilizer in the right place); and low pH.

E xperienced eco-farmers have a far more advanced and complex understanding offertilizer use than the simplistic NPK approach that dominates their industrial agcounterparts but learning from and working with nature as a partner rather thanan adversary is a never-ending process, and there are few better teaching tools than

learning from mistakes.With that in mind, Acres U.S.A.asked some of the leading consultants in soil fertil-

ity and biological agriculture, What are the top five mistakes you have observed interms of fertilizer application?

Their responses present a wealth of information and considerations that every bio-logically correct grower will want to contemplate as they develop and refine their ownfertilizer management programs.

TOP 5MISTAKES IN FERTILIZERAPPLICATION

This variable-rate spreader allows for accurate field applications of fertilizers.

Reprinted from August 2010 Vol. 40, No. 7


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2. Wrong amount. Overdoing somenutrients will interfere with the uptakeof others. For example, applying toomuch soluble nitrogen can wash avail-able calcium out of the soil. Land thathas been depleted of nutrients due topast farming practices and crop removalcan have poor production if too littlefertilizer is applied. Equipment calibra-tion problems also fall into this category:if farmers miscalibrate their spreaderthey can get too much or too little fertil-izer on their crop.

3. Wrong place. If soluble fertilizeris placed on top of the ground it canvolatize or erode, and those nutrients arelost. Placing too much soluble fertilizeror a fertilizer with a high salt index nextto the seed can inhibit root growth ordry out the roots. Another problem I seeis bulk spreading a starter fertilizer thatwould be better placed down the row

where the crop can access it.4. Wrong time. A common mistake

in timing is applying nitrogen in thefall when there isnt a growing cropthere to capture that nitrogen. Anothertiming issue I often see is applying ahighly soluble fertilizer to a hay crop inthe spring, which interferes with cropquality.

5. Not following a consistent program.Some farmers are hit and miss withtheir fertilizer program. Theyll apply

calcium, sulfur and boron some yearsbut not others, when really those nutri-ents should be applied every year. If afarmer has a limited budget, they needto look at their major constraints anddecide where to spend their dollars todo the most good for the crop and thesoils. They should set up a program anddetermine the best time to take soil tests,then make their soil correctives anddetermine when and how much cropfertilizer to apply.

Final thoughts:l. Test to find what nutrients are defi-

cient and add them.2. Apply soluble calcium, sulfur and

boron on all forages and legumes.3. Use a crop fertilizer placed prop-

erly with a balance of all nutrients for allcrops grown.

NEAL KINSEY Neal Kinsey has

been called a con-sultants consul-tant. Through thein-depth courses provided by hiscompany, Kinsey Agricultural Ser-

vices, Inc., he has trained hundreds of con-sultants and sophisticated growers in themethodology of soil element balancing uti-lizing cation exchange capacity. He is co-author of the book Hands-On Agronomyand lectures frequently around the world.

1. Too many nutrients are only con-sidered for their short-term effects andnot the full benefit for both the life in thesoil to do its work of digesting locked-upelements and the full benefit to the nu-trient content of the plants being grown.The soil is the plants stomach. If we

expect the plants we grow to supply ournutritional needs, then we must use thematerials that aid its digestive system.

2. You cant manage what you cantmeasure. Test and properly feed the soilin order not to force the plant to takeup elements it does not need insteadof those it does, thus creating problemswith excesses and deficiencies.

3. Failure to understand that when you add a nutrient to the soil some-thing else will be lost if that material is

to remain in the soil and available forplant uptake. Thus, adding too much ofanything will assure there is not enoughof something else.

4. Trying to average whole fields forfertilizer applications regardless of ob-vious differences in soil content andplant growth, assuming that one mix willprovide all that is needed. For every dif-ference you can observe in a field, therewill generally be one or more differentnutrient-availability problems that canbe detected. If it is large enough to treatseparately, supply the right fertilizer forthat soils needs.

5. Failure to seriously study, learnand strive to apply what the real laws ofsoil fertility require to do the right job.Start small if it requires major changes,but determine to follow through on anutrient-feeding program for that soil,testing and fertilizing accordingly, forat least three years. Consider the results

each year, but make the final judgmentby giving the program time to make thechanges in the soil that matter most.Even then, when properly tested andfertilized accordingly, the soil and itsproduction should continue to improvefor years to the extent that such a pro-gram measures and provides the propernutrients for the soil to feed the plantsbeing grown there.

PHILWHEELER,PH.D.

Dr. Phil Wheeleris expert in blending Al brecht-methodsoil fertility balanc-ing, Reams-styleagronomy, and sub-

tle-energy techniques including radionicsand field broadcasters. His company, Crop

Services International, provides advancedsoil testing, technology and products toenable farmers and growers of all sizes andtypes to improve the health of their soils,crops and animals.

1. The biggest and oldest mistake madeis not liming because of neglect, lack ofknowledge or the mistaken concept ofpH as basis for liming rather than per-cent base saturation. Since calcium is theprime nutrient in all living systems, thismistake has caused immeasurable loss

of production and incredible amountsof economic and environmental damagewhen rescue chemistry had to be applied.The fact that calcium is not biologicallyavailable (as indicated by LaMotte soiltests) to the extent needed for nutrientdense food under conventional farmingtechniques adds to the problem. The lackof fungi in general prevents the holdingof calcium in the root zone.

2. Using high applications of nitro-gen and potassium (from KCl) to push/force a plant to grow instead of creatinghealthy biological soils. The excess Nshuts down the natural processes of thecycle that fix atmospheric nitrogen. TheKCl interferes with soil biology. ExcessN also interferes with the most basicfunction of nutrient exchange involv-ing mycorrhizal fungi. The fungi exudesugars to soil bacteria that exchange thesugars for macro- and micronutrientsback into the plant. Again, the loss of the



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fungi or their function does not allow fornutrient-dense food.

3. Using highly concentrated, pro-cessed phosphates that tie up quickly withsoil calcium, making it unavailable to thecrop, and shut down mycorrhizal fungi.See numbers 1 and 2 for explanations.

4. Assuming that plants grow fromnutrients, rather than the energy pro-duced by the nutrients , the biology, thesun, the moon, the lightning and thecosmic forces. Many growers dont real-ize how much oil-based energy went intothe production of those NPK fertilizersand that this energy is released back intothe soil. A grower may also assume thatlarger amounts of this high-energy ma-terial will result in greater yields. Thatcan be true, up to a point, but since thissource of energy is tied to fossil fuel andoverpowers free, natural sources of en-ergy, the system is unsustainable. It also

destroys soil carbon instead of sequester-ing it, resulting in the weakening of oneof the most valuable sources of nationalwealth, our nations soil.

5. Assuming that just using startersevery year is cost efficient, when in factit is very inefficient if you have major orminor mineral shortages that go uncor-rected. Each major or minor mineral de-ficiency can cause loss of yield. About 99percent of soil tests coming through ourlab are severely short of boron, and about

95 percent are short of Zinc. Boron beginsthe whole process of moving silica andcalcium into a crop. Zinc is responsiblefor growth functions. By planting each year without replacing or supplementingthe crop in the start, a grower meets Ein-steins definition of insanity, i.e., doingthe same thing over and over again andexpecting a different result. Test your soiland replace your missing minerals!

MIKEAMARANTHUS,PH.D.

Dr. Mike Ama-ranthus has pub-lished more than 80scientific papers onsoil and fungi andhas conducted re-

search and presented invited scientific papers in England, Italy, Spain, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, China, Mexico

and Canada. His awards include the Secre-tary of Agricultures Highest Honors Award for scientific achievement in 1996. Dr. Mike is an associate professor (adjunct) atOregon State University and the presidentof Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc.

Farmers can reduce their fertilizerinputs and costs managing the timingof fertilizer application and encouragingmicrobial life in the soil. When fertilizeravailability is timed with plant nutrition-al needs and root activity, then fertilizeruse efficiency is greatly improved. Mi-crobes are like little sacks of fertilizer thatstore and slowly release nutrients whenplants need them the most. Use carboninputs and inoculants to improve micro-bial populations and activity. Remember,it is microbial activity that makes phos-phorus available, so dont waste moneyon phosphorus fertilizers that get tiedup immediately. Avoid overwatering and

erosion, which result in fertility lossesinto surface and ground waters.

The five most common mistakeswould thus be:

1. Overuse of fertilizers.2. Off-site pollution.3. Tied-up phosphorus.4. Over-watering.5. Erosion.

JON FRANK,INTERNATIONAL

AG LABS Jon Frank is a principal in the lab/ consulting group In-ternational Ag Labs,where he helps grow-ers through phone

consultations, fertility recommendations,and product development.

1. Not applying enough nitrogen inorganic grain production. Organic grainproducers are notoriously squeamishabout applying nitrogen. Our standardrecommendation for corn is 50 gallons of5-1-1 liquid fish and 100 pounds Chileannitrate. Cost is the biggest concern.

2. Trying to fix a calcium deficiencywith NPK. Much of production agricul-ture focuses only on NPK, and conse-quently most soils are low on availablecalcium. Most farmers dont appreciatethe value calcium brings to the volume ofharvest. As a result, calcium is not proper-

ly addressed while production is pushedmostly with nitrogen and potassium.

3. Organic gardeners fertilizing soilswith far too much compost or manure.This is a classic problem with garden-scale growers. Since people know com-post is good for the soil, most put on 100times too much. The result is cumulativepoorer quality, insect pressure and drop-ping brix all because gardeners puton what they have plenty of rather thanwhat the soil needs.

4. Not understanding the supremerole calcium plays as a soil amendmentand crop nutrient. Calcium is what allother elements in the soil react againstto create energy. Having the proper leveland ratio of available calcium guardsagainst wasting nitrogen that can bedissipated from the soil into the atmo-sphere. Adequate soil calcium is needed just as much by soil biology as by plants

5. Trying to use biology to break looselocked-up nutrients rather than actuallyapplying the needed nutrients. This is aclassic approach taken by people underthe influence of one too many com-post tea applications. We have seen manyfarmers totally bankrupt phosphate lev-els, all the while stimulating soil biologyto break loose more phosphates. To saythat all any soil needs is biology and stim-ulation because all soils are well endowedwith plenty of nutrients is a big mistake.

Nature just doesnt work that way. A bet-ter approach is to apply biology, stimulatebiology, and apply moderate amounts ofthe nutrients in short supply.

Midwestern Bio-Ag can be contacted at10955 Blackhawk Dr., Blue Mounds, Wisconsin53517, phone 800-327-6012, website www. midwesternbioag.com .

Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc., can be con-tacted at 297 County Highway 357, Charleston,Missouri 63834, phone 573-683-3880, e-mail [email protected], website www.kinseyag.com.

Crop Services International can be contacted

at 1718 Madison SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan49507, phone 800-260-7933, e-mail [email protected].

Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc., can be con-tacted at P.O. Box 1029, Grants Pass, Oregon97528, phone 541-476-3985, website www. mycorrhiza.com .

International Ag Labs can be contacted atP.O. Box 788, Fairmont, Minnesota 56031,phone 507-235-6909, website www.aglabs.com.


top 5 mistakes in fertilizer application pdf

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