Starter or Popup Fertilizer

[Shaggy98]

I've got a planting question that is more of a business question (I think) than a production question so I've placed it in this forum.  My planter doesn't have any fertilizer capabilities at the moment so all nutrient placement is either preplant or postplant.  Fortunate or unfortunate (depends how you view it) for me, I'm in an area where very little N is lost to leaching, but volitizing as a different issue.  I run a 100% no-till operation and am curious of the yield boost of applying starter at the time of planting.  I've got a neighbor who does all my no-till wheat drilling for me and we do apply fertilizer at the time of that seeding but was wondering if I would be money ahead if I kept my planter parked and hired him to plant my milo for me as well.  Not sure what his rates are for his planting operation, but he only charged my $13/acre for drilling my wheat but I helped him pull fertilizer tanks and seed tenders so he could spend more time it the tractor and less time running around to refill his tender trailers.  I am more than happy helping tender him, but is it worth it?  It wouldn't take much a yield jump to recover that $13 even at our prices now.

[farmerguy89]

Did more starter research lately.

High test levels don't lend themselves to consistent 2x2 response.In furrow gets more response in cold seeding conditions and early on.<br><br>Dry fert will always be the way to go in terms of business decisions. Bcast fert is just too tough to move Down in no till.<br><br>I you priced dry no till doing it yourself v liquid hired you might come out ahead. 13/ acre is nothing for planting. I wouldn't do it for less than 20 w dry... But I migh charge 25 if I got uppity.<br><br>I can't really comment on milo p/k needs so I don't know if liquid is enough... But 10 gal on wheat is likely good enough... So hard to gtet a positive response to k in wheat.. Has to be like 30ppm k to get yield from k. 25/50 pounds of p sets it off for the season.<br><br>You got naturally high k levels right? If that's the case I am betting you would get along fine w in furrow p. As long as things are timely your good.

[425Cat]

Farmer guy how are you putting that liquid down when planting wheat

[farmerguy89]

I'm not. I use a drill w/ split dry fertilizer/ seed. They are rare/uncommon but out there.

You can modify a strictly no till equipment to have a liquid tank, lines, pump, etc. most dealers have done it/know how to do it. They usually put a 500 gallon tank where the additional ballast would go. Extension fella says you can get about 10 gal 10-34 on. Critical to not put to much n+k in furrow. The limit for wheat is like 25-30 n+k. I use map/pOtash and have exceeded those slightly and seen no problems.

Liquid fertilizer doesn't excite me and I have a new system that fills up fast, but I fill up a lot. But I can plant for more hours per day than the combine can move.

[farmerguy89]

Air seeders come in split tanks too!

[farmerguy89]

I think most don't realize that you can food the fertilizer compartment up in the good drills so you can get more bean seed as well. I think that's what turned ppl off of them? I don't know

[sw363535]

Shaggy I did it for years on dry land milo, to limit trips.  Offset from row, top or down.

Sandier and similar soil.

Always saw some response in early growth.  Seldom if ever saw difference in yield in milo.

[Shaggy98]

Thanks SW, that is exactly what I was wondering.

[sw363535]

It was specific to our conditions, but I did it for a long time to get the the milo to grow as fast as possible to beat the wind and sand.  (Ironic we have the dirt flying this week)

After we went got some herbicide help and went to no-til  and better trash managment we dropped it.  You gotta have yield boost to pay for what liquid does to the planter or the fact that you are slowing down the planter for fill ups.

But if you have great fertility and are using just a little P, it is a great time to do it.

[James22]

We run 2X2 and put down roughly 220 lbs/acre with approx 50% urea.  Ran out a couple of years ago on the final acres and you could see a  significant difference in both height and color when the corn was about 8 inches tall.  Side dressed more nitrogen on the corn that didn't have the 2X2.  No yield check but our limited results show it at least assists early growth and we continue the practice.  Certainly would be a hassle if planting many acres, fertilizer boxes need to be filled a lot more often than the seed boxes.