Starter Fertilizer

[Pupdaddy]

There is "some" cost advantage to using dry most of the time....the question is, how you are going to be planting. There are few no-tillage planters that will allow the use of dry fertilizer, so you are pretty much limited to convetional till. It also can be difficult to handle...with problems developing if you get the starter damp in the boxes...and it doesn't want to feed. The majority of starter any more is liquid..and different blends are available. It is just an easier product to handle...and that's why most have switched to it.

[idalivered]

I'll find out this morning and let you know.

[idalivered]

$475/ton. I think it's about $2.75/gal.

[Ed_Winkle]

On corn, the best money I have spent is N and S on the planter, off the row.  I like a little pop up with micro's in my early notill system.

In soybeans, I like a little liquid NPK with micro's with little salts, wheat the same.

You can grow good crops without row fertilizer but I like a little here and there and N on corn is a real money maker.

Ed Winkle

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I think Ohio needsd some sulfur where western states aren't so likely to.  I use 2X2 dry on the planter, no-till, and try to put on nearly everything I need for a maintenance rate.  Might boost it up a little this year or might do some broadcast, as my numbers are getting a little low in some fields.

[richwayind]

Thanks for all the info- where are you located? Here in Iowa it doesnt seem like very many people are using any  liquid starter or pop up. May be because of the better soils, maybe because they just have not used it before and dont want to change planter set ups.  looking for any reasons why some big producing locations or states might not use starter or some form of liquid N when they plant.

Ryan

[Pupdaddy]

I think you might find that starter is regionally accepted. Here in Northern Ohio..we have cold wet springs..where a shot of starter will really help the corn at least look healthier than going without. I guarantee one thing, if you have starter on your planter..and run out...you will notice a difference. There isn't a lot of evidence that it makes for more yield..but it hardly seems possible when you see the difference in plant heighth and color. No-till is possibly the best place to use starter..primarily because of the phosphorous you can get close to the seedlings early in their growth. Cool damp no-till soils can cause very weak looking corn until it gets it's legs under it...and starter always makes it look better. If I were just getting started with some starter..I might just go with a pop-up application for the first year. A set of saddle tanks on the tractor...or even a single tank up front can hold enough material for 60 to 100 acres of planting at 5 gallon/acre. You won't need expensive openers..and you'll get an idea of the effects I was talking about. Some of us who have used starter for years...have even begun thinking it might behoove us to get a little more nitrogen on with the planter before side dressing...just as insurance mind you if it rains for 3 weeks when you need to do your fertilizing. I don't know anyone who has ever used starter....who has gone back to not using it. It might just be a mind game...but it sure makes you feel better the way it looks.

[idalivered]

You are right about regional acceptance. In iowa the northern tier of counties and on up into minnesota it is way more common. I talked to a jd dealer about 40 miles south of the minnesota border and they said they never see it on any planters. I just took a new planter to L&D Ag to have the new starter pump and tanks put on.