Fertilizer for Strip-Till

Dr. Dave FranzenNDSU, Fargo

Options for Conventional Tilled N Fertilizer-

Fall-N NH3Fall-N Urea bandedFall-N Urea broadcastSpring broadcast UAN or UreaBanded UAN or Urea at seeding (2 X 2)Side-dress NH3Side-dress UAN

Options for Strip-Till N Fertilizer

*Fall-N NH3*Fall-N Urea bandedFall-N Urea broadcastSpring broadcast UAN or UreaBanded UAN or Urea at seeding (2 X 2)Side-dress NH3 ?*Side-dress UAN

Options for Conventional Till P & K-

Fall broadcast Spring broadcastSpring band 2 X 2

Options for Strip-Till P & K-

Fall deep (4-6 inches) bandFall broadcast Spring broadcastSpring band 2 X 2

In addition, a small amount of seed-placed or 2X2 band starter.

The most common method of applicationis fall N/P/K during the fall preparation trip.

~6 inches

Or fall P & K followed by side-dress

Considerations for fall N application-

Sand, loamy sand, sandy loam? NOEasily saturated in spring? Maybe

Wait until soil temp cools below 50 degrees Ffor ammonia and another week if urea.

Don’t use UAN.

Strip Tillage with Fertilizer Banding

From University of Illinois, Land and Water, Jan. 2003, #3D. Peterson.

What about spring strip-till???

What about spring strip-till???

Will need to go more shallow due tosoil wetness at depth.

The fear is that spring anhydrous mightaffect stand. Even though the placementis deep, cracks could let gas through to seed.

A better spring choice would be liquids orurea placed deep.

Another big problem in this area with springstrip-till is the moisture and poor soil conditions in most year with depth.

Illinois data-

Fall-N Spring-NUnder Between Under Between

CT 211 223 218 234

ST 226 223 225 229

Under row N (NH3) had lower yields than betweenthe rows.

Strip-till fall fertilized vs spring fertilized,Iowa data- average of 4 site-years.

YieldFall fertilized 217Spring fertilized 206

Minnesota data, Waseca, Strip-till, average 2 yr data.

TIME OF APPLICATION Yield

Fall Spring Planting Sidedress Bu/acre0 0 0 0 111

AA+NS 100 - - - 161AA, 100 - - - 162

- AA, 100 - - 172* - Urea + AgTn 100 - - 166- Urea + AgTn, 80 UAN, 20, Dribble - 171*- - - UAN, 100 coulter 172*- - UAN, 20 Dribble UAN, 80, coulter 174*- - UAN, 20 coulter UAN, 80 coulter 171*- - UAN, 40, Dribble UAN, 60, coulter 161- - UAN, 40 Coulter UAN, 60 coulter 165- - UAN, 40, Spray UAN 60 coulter 178*

Mean N recovery, about 2/3. Highest for coulter delivery.

Mean Soil-test K Stratificationat Davis, EC Indiana

0 50 100 150 200 250

6-10"

2-6"

0-2"

Soil-test K (ppm)

Dep

th (i

n.)

Source: Vyn et al., Better Crops #4, 2002

RESPONSE OF CORN TO ROW-APPLIED K ON A SILTY CLAY LOAM SOIL (3 yr. avg.)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

< 5 t 19 t

YIE

LD

RE

SPO

NSE

(bu/

a)

OPTIMUMV. HIGH

SOIL TEST K

Dr. Wolkowski, UW, Oshkosh, Wis. (45 lb K20/a)

Wisconsin, effect of tillage and P/K placementon corn yield, corn on corn, ave. of 2 years.

None Brdcst 2 X 2 Deep

CT 178 185 191

ST 185 185 181 174

Wisconsin, effect of tillage and P/K placementon corn yield, corn on soybean, ave. of 2 years.

None Brdcst 2 X 2 Deep

CT 199 198 201

ST 196 214 205 212

Minnesota, starter trial, average of 3 years.Includes strip-till treatment, 5 inches below.

Starter CCC CCSb CSb

None 157b 162a 179b

150 lb 9-23-30 167a 164a 188a

Starter provided a boost in two of three cropping systems at this high- testing site.

To summarize-

The primary reasons for strip-till do notinclude fertility considerations-

*soil conservation benefits*warmer, drier soils compared with NT

*fuel savings

Fall is not the only option, just the mostconvenient.

When convenience and good agronomicsdon’t meet, there are other options-

*Liquids with coulters*Under seeding with liquids or urea.

*2X2 bands with liquids or urea.

*Slow-release urea products?????

Urea on the surface would be a pooroption if not protected. Agrotain helps.

P and or K can go down with the fall banded application.

A few studies to date show a benefit from thedeep band- most do not.

Starter can go with the seed if the rateis not too high.

A 2 X 2 band can make flexible rates possible.

QUESTIONS?

For more information orclarification of this presentation-

david.franzen@ndsu.edu