I've managed to soil sample 90% of my fields now and continue to see nitrogen levels in the 15 to 30 lb range. Last week, soil moisture was 1 to 1½ feet deep, which works out to roughly 1 or 2 inches of stored soil moisture, depending on soil texture. In terms of yield, it gives us a 4-bushel per acre head start to canola, a 6-bushel start to wheat and an 8-bushel start to barley in 2009. |
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I hope that most producers plan to soil sample at least a cross section of fields this fall to gain a better understanding of their fertility needs. Understanding nutrient levels could easily mean the difference between $10 and $20 an acre in fertilizer costs, never mind the peace of mind that comes with knowing what nutrients you can or can't cut back on.
I've checked on a few fields of winter wheat that were seeded the beginning of October and it looks like they only managed to grow one leaf so winter kill may be an issue next spring. On these later seeded fields we increased the seeding rate by about 20% to help offset the potential loss from winter kill. Though late seeding winter wheat is not a recommended practice, it was worth the risk on this really sandy land.
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In this week's newsletter I'll be focusing on phosphorus for improving yields in sandy soils, understanding how much we can cut back in 2009 and building P levels in our soils now for the future. We'll also look at another innovative land rental idea and an excellent comment from last week's article on land rent. Finally, we'll look at Chinese fertilizer export tariffs and international crop weather news.
My hope is that Beyond Agronomy News could become a living newsletter where ideas are shared and we all benefit in the end. Please feel free to email comments my way. I do enjoy them.
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