Agronomy THEORY: 101

DISCLAIMER:
The following article is intended to make you think.  It involves a working THEORY I've developed based on some of the evidence I've seen, but the theory proposed in the ensuing article cannot and should not be taken as Gospel Truth... at least not yet.



So the 2016 growing season has been really eye opening for me on the nitrogen management front. And for you cynics reading this article who hope that I've converted to a pro-anhydrous stance for some ridiculous reason, allow me to just dash your hopes right up front.  Instead, this article is all about how there's still a whole lotta sales pitch surrounding the 360 Y-Drop, and I'm afraid that that's clouding the real mechanism(s) by which that tool can increase your bottom line.

So let me address that first: I like 360 Yield Center.  I think they're a great company that has made some fantastic products, and I'm proud to be affiliated with them. With that said, it still seems to me that most of their videos and meetings are all about boosting yield yield yield yield.  And yield is great.  But let's never lose sight of the fact that yield is NOT king -- profitability is.  Sometimes that means making more bushels.  But sometimes it means making less bushels, but spending less to get those bushels.  To me there's no other tool that allows a grower the flexibility to do both of these things than the 360 Y-Drop.  But you have to understand this tool to really capture its full benefit.

So my good friend and Dynamite Grower, Scott Wettstein (follow him on Twitter: @wettfarm15) did some absolutely KILLER research for me this year on his farm in SE North Dakota.  The results are in, and they're totally mind blowing.  In case you missed it, here's the live FB video that we shot when we were on his farm taking soil and tissue samples this summer.  In it, he describes the research:


Now I could tell you the results of this study right here, and right now because I do have them...

But I'm not going to.  Nope.  The results are utterly mind blowing, but I'm saving those for presentation at our winter meetings.  (As a sidenote, keep your eyes peeled for Facebook events because I'll be putting links up to our winter meetings where you can register and all that jazz).

So while I won't discuss the specific results, I will say this: It has become very apparent that it doesn't take nearly as much Nitrogen to produce a bushel of corn as we've all been told that it does.

But...

Scott conducted this research on ground with 3.5% O.M., CECs of 22.5, and this was following soybeans.  So yeah, he had some N in the ground, and some mineralization, and some pretty good holding capacity.  He also had a grand total of 15.87" of rain this growing season.  I can tell you definitively that no moisture = no movement when it comes to N.

So all of that is kind of a big long intro to the real point which is this: My theory is that the 360 Y-Drop makes guys money different ways in different scenarios. Specifically, in sandy, low CEC, low O.M. soils that don't have much of a holding capacity, Y-Drop extends the window of application because you probably didn't have the ability to hold enough N where it's needed for long enough.  As such, in that case, you can look for more bushels from the additional N that you put out.  And your profitability ultimately comes from those extra bushels.

On the other end of the spectrum is a scenario like Scott's, where we had relatively high O.M. (i.e., 3.5%) and decently high CEC (i.e., 22.5), Scott's research pretty effectively proved that we don't need nearly as much as everyone seems to think that we do.  (Seriously... when I share these results in the winter meetings you are going to think I'm making this up because they were so dramatic).

The flip side of this coin is that the greatest strength is often the greatest weakness.  So in sandy soils I THINK we need to be careful not to put our N on too early (because it could leach away) and in heavier soils, I think we need to be careful not to put it on too late (because it could immobilize OR denitrify).  So what's too early or too late?  At this point, I definitely do not think that you want to have a planned Y-Drop application prior to about V8-V10 (please note that I said "planned"-- I understand that if you have a bunch of moisture and/or if you're not set up with 2x2 or strip-til and/or if you're not using a stabilizer that it may vary a bit) and realistically, V12-V14 is probably about ideal.  Quite possibly, you may need two applications on sandier soils.  Alternatively, on those heavier soils, you want to make sure that the N has time to move even just a couple of inches down into the soil profile to come in contact with those roots, and that may take just a little bit of time.  In this scenario, I think that V14 is actually probably too late and so you'll want to get it on in that V8-V10 window.  I probably wouldn't go before V6 (mostly because if you don't really want it sitting on top of the ground very long in full sunlight, with the wind blowing on it, etc.  In short, try to minimize the losses due to volatilization).

As I noted above, please remember that this is just a theory, and we won't know for sure until we play with it to see.

One thing I do know is that we need more tests like Scott's for the sake of replication, and we also need some timing trials where we use the same rates but go in and apply at like V6 vs V8 vs V10, etc etc. on different soil types.

If you'd like some help setting up some N research trials (or any research trials for that matter) on your farm in 2017, or if you have Nitrogen questions or any other agronomy questions, please feel free to give me a call at 641-919-5574.  Also, be sure to follow us on Facebook and check in regularly to get the updated meeting schedule.  Thanks for reading guys!