Anyone Here Broadcast Urea?

[Pupdaddy]

I'm going to use some Urea this spring on no-till wheat stubble before planting my corn. I usually side dress NH3 because it's price is usually so much better but this year it seems Urea is very competitive and the fields I'm planting in are notoriously hard to get sealing in when using NH3.  I was warned by my local co-op's agronomist..that they have seen root pruning result from heavy (200 units) applications of urea. I'm wondering how other guys have fared when using Urea in a broadcast situation...Is this a real issue quite often?

[Nebrfarmr]

I do it every year, unless urea prices are way higher than alternatives.  I put on about 120# or so broadcast pre-plant, which also helps soften the stubble and any trash on the field.  Apply any burn-down herbicide at this time, as it makes it more effective.

I then follow up with a side-dress application when the corn is about knee high.  Our local fertilizer guy lets me use their side-dress rig for $1 per acre, if I buy the urea from him.  It carries an 800 gallon tank, and runs 11 rows @ around 7 MPH putting on 80#.  IT takes longer to get the nurse tank re-filled, than it does to empty it. 

edit-

I ran into a neighbor who brodcast dry urea after emergence a couple years ago, and he said while it did burn the plants a bit, where he applied it outyielded a test strip where he skipped it.  This was a year with bad weather events, and he just couldn't get into the field until planting time, and then the weather kept him out again until after the corn was out of the ground.

[steeringwheelholder]

I think Pup is talking dry urea, 46-0-0. We had a landowner come to us a few years ago to rent a farm, while we were planting corn. Something happened between him and his tenant and things blew up. Anyway, we preplant all 82-0-0 ammonia. No time to waste, and urea was the cheapest form at the time plus we needed potash spread as well. So we called the dealer for 400 lb urea and 200 potash to be spread. We worked it in right after the spreader and the corn looked and yielded great. We still prefer ammonia, but I wouldn't be afraid to do urea again. The thing to consider is to make sure you can get it applied and worked in fairly close to planting as possible. The N releases quickly.

[hymark]

I plan to spread 100 lbs urea with 100 lbs AMS to spread my feeding out.  100 lbs of pellet lime and 100 lbs of K makes a great addition to it if you need potassium, I spread mine last fall.  I will put a little 28 with the chemical and a little side dress.  My corn yields well this way although 2 years ago I had time to put all anhydrous up front and that worked great too.

[michuiganfarmer]

Ha Pup why not use ESN it the encapsulate form of urea that way you don't lose it and your corn wont get all of it at one time.

[Blacksandfarmer]

Pupdaddy, I wouldn't spread urea in a notill situation. The urea can get tied up in heavy residue and lost. You can look up both an Ohio State and University of Minnesota study that advise against broadcast urea in notill situations. I apply half my nitrogen using urea and it works well. I try to have it incorporated quickly after application though. I would use agrotain as a stabilizer rather than ESN because its a little cheaper.

[soil-life]

Pre plant broadcast is My preferred Method for several reasons. and has been for 35 plus seasons.

And My clients find that after a few seasons they never want to go back to any previous method. We do still tweak application methods and do plot work.

According to soil analysis, field yield maps and previous season tissue and Yield history.

We put together a blend of N-P-K-S and Micros

Urea, AMS. 11-52-0,  K  ,  Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate Boron etc. etc.

Broadcast and work in ahead of planting.   I only have one client that makes a side dress application of 28% liquid.

And we do side by sides annually on this farm also.   With and without side dress.  Keeping Total applied N. Equal.

About 30%  top dress dry Urea in season. Especially our no till clients.

And about 95% of the acres with a 200 Buy. History now apply a dry fly on formula pre tassel complimenting the pre plant broadcast to

increase the Nitrogen efficiency and to finish off the season maximizing the plants health and yield potential.

John

[Shaggy98]

Around my area, this is a very common practice on dryland no-till conditions.  It is usually applied shortly after the first of the year when we have a nice stretch of winter weather.  Keep in mind, we receive between 20"-25" precipitation annually so leaching is not usually an issue.  I don't know what the irrigation producers do but very little side dressing is performed on sorghum ground.  I would guess most people put 95% fertilizer on preplant and just enough at planting time to speed up emergence.