Less is More
Meditations on Fertilizer, Rainfall, and Rumple Minze
It’s a great time of the year.
Wheat and sugar beets are emerging, the trees budding, and Minnesota sports teams are leveling the competition.
We got a slow two-incher to replenish soil moisture and pause the Dust Bowl, and the forecasting godfather, Eric Snodgrass, says warmer temperatures and a planting window are on the way.
We’re off to a great start to the growing season.
With the moisture we’ve received over the past week, I’d like to take a moment to remind everybody of a cardinal rule in ag, a cornerstone to maintaining mental health and overall sanity.
Don’t go on a crop tour while it’s raining.
Everything looks worse than it is and you’ll think it’s all screwed and then you’ll go to the bar to bury your sorrows cause you think your seeds are drowning.
You’ll saturate your internals in a jug of Rumple Minze and embarrass yourself singing Guns n’ Roses ballads on the karaoke stage, only to wake up tomorrow morning with a massive hangover and find the soil has absorbed the water and everything is fine.
Still, now you’ve got this hangover, and it was all for naught.
Save yourself the headache and liver damage by giving it twelve to sixteen hours before crop touring after a soaker.
You’re welcome.
Are you overspending on fertilizer?
A colleague, pal, and long-time pamphlet supporter, Sir Dan Leffelman (I have yet to confirm that the queen has knighted him, but by inserting the Sir now, I won’t have to come back and edit this post in the eventuality that it does indeed happen), shared this juicy study with me last week and seeing that the most profitable farms actually use LESS fertilizer got me thinking.
Before I freak anybody out, a disclaimer.
I’m not condemning anybody for overapplying fertilizer, nor am I siding with the people who think we are heathens who apply synthetic fertilizer for the fun of it.
I’m just a curious cat.
Additionally, I’m not suggesting that you make any changes to the fertilizer program on your farm.
If what you’re doing is working for you, then you do you, boo.
For a while, I’ve been wondering if we can maintain our yields while using less fertilizer, and this study suggests it is possible.
Instead of theorizing, hypothesizing, and prophesizing (okay, I’m not sure if the last one is a word, but it rolled off the keyboard too smoothly to edit it out so I’m going with it), I’ve decided to F around and find out with some fertilizer reduction studies of my own.
One of the things I enjoy most about farming (full-time) is experimenting with new products and practices to find the most efficient methods.
The fertilizer application map above is just one of many tests we will perform. in 2024.
We will also combine these studies with testing products like Envita and Nutriquire from YieldMaster Solutions and Source from Sound Agriculture to see if our synthetic fertilizer usage can be more efficient while maintaining trend yields.
For those interested, I’ve posted links to these products at the end of the pamphlet.
Whether these tests pan out or I end up looking like an idiot doofus for trying something different is yet to be seen.
Nevertheless, the studies we’ll be performing on the Research Farm this year should prove interesting. I’ll be posting updates throughout the growing season with photos, soil and tissue tests, and the results after harvesting in the fall.
Follow along if you’re interested in finding a better way. Or don’t. It's up to you, Bob-a-Roo.
Links:
Nutriquire from YieldMaster Solutions
Envita from Azotic and YieldMaster Solutions
Love your adherence to best processes and practices, plus your willingness to experiment to find out which practices make best business sense!