(IARN) — “Coming out of a tough year, guys are trying to find where they can save a nickel or stop the bleeding,” states Reid Abbott, field agronomy manager with AgroLiquid. Instead, Abbott encourages farmers to reevaluate their fertilizer program ahead of the 2020 crop season.
“Find smarter ways to spend dollars. Maybe (see) where you can diversify, not focus on any one particular nutrient. Look at what’s limiting, all the way down to your micronutrient,” Abbott said. “Look at different application methods and reevaluate your whole fertilizer program to get the most value out of it.”
Farmers will need to assess their needs, which can be done through soil and tissue sampling. Abbott speaks to specific nutrients, which will prove useful following the difficult 2019 crop season.
“Nitrogen is one nutrient guys are going to be worried about,” Abbott said. “Potassium might be limiting. Guys might be needing to adjust pH and rebuild soils that were flooded for a long time. Then paying attention to your leachable micronutrients, boron and sulfur, is going to be important as well.”
AgroLiquid employees can assist you in reevaluating your fertilizer program.
“That’s one of our biggest strengths – Being able to take a look at a soil test, highlight where a guys’ limiting factor is, and where he needs to spend his next dollar, but making sure we’re not overspending on one nutrient and not spending enough on another,” Abbott said.
Story and photo courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
