By Brian Hefty

Every year we suggest you thoroughly evaluate everything you spend money on and determine whether or not it is worth it based on current economics.  Start with your biggest expenses and work your way down.  Number one on our list – and probably yours, too – is fertilizer.  Here is a list of the top 10 ways you can cut your fertilizer bill this coming year.

  1. Band the non-mobile nutrients.  Nitrogen, boron, and sulfur can move around in the soil pretty well, but phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and most other nutrients can’t.  This is not to say you might not be able to shave 5 to 10 percent off your nitrogen bill by banding, but compared to the 30 percent you might save banding P or K, it doesn’t add up as quickly.  The main reasons why, in the short-term, banding saves you money are: roots can find it easier when it is placed where the roots will grow, and there is less chance for tie-up when fertilizer is in a concentrated band.
  2. The first half of your fertilizer bill typically provides the best ROI.  If you are really strapped for cash, don’t completely cut your P or K; just apply a lower rate.  Don’t get me wrong here.  If you really need P, K, S, or micronutrients, cutting your rate at all may hurt your profits significantly, but if you already have decent soil levels, shaving a little bit off the rate in the short-term likely won’t be a big deal.  Just keep in mind that sooner or later you’ll have to replace what you remove if you keep farming the same land.
  3. Make sure your fertilizer is available when your crop needs it.  For example, in a dry year do you really think spring-applied dry P & K will be available early in the season when your corn needs it?  Typically, fall is a better time to apply dry P & K so it has more time to break down.  In many cases, running with some or all liquid fertilizer is a better way to make sure the early season needs of a crop are met.
  4. If you use liquid products, keep the rate low in-furrow.  If you start running 10 or 20 gallons of a liquid product in-furrow, that’s really pushing it, especially if it is a high-salt product like 10-34-0.  The last thing you want is for your fertilizer to hurt your yield.  We suggest low-salt products in-furrow; and anytime you want to run high rates of liquid, it’s best to have some of that in a 2 X 2 placement.
  5. Start pulling your own soil samples.  In my opinion, anyone 14 years old or more who has a driver’s license can easily do this.  Use your smartphone to GPS-locate your gridpoints or zonepoints.  You can use the free Ag PhD Soil Test app or go to www.agphdsoiltest.com if you want our help with this.  Pulling your own samples can save you thousands of dollars each year on your farm.
  6. Get a complete soil test.  I know this may seem a little crazy, but investing $10 in micronutrients might increase your yield more than spending $50 on P & K.  We don’t know without seeing a complete soil test that includes soil pH, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and micronutrient tests.
  7. Apply your own fertilizer.  We started doing all our own fertilizer application over 20 years ago.  It has saved us a tremendous amount of money, and now we are the ones in control of what gets applied and where.
  8. Use variable rate technology.  That’s right.  I want you to apply your own fertilizer AND variable-rate it.  On our farm we do this for anhydrous, dry broadcast, dry strip-till, and several different types of liquid application.  Chances are you already have a monitor that will handle things.  You just need to equip your application tool to run variable rate, but that expense usually has a payback in just a few acres.  Why put more fertilizer where it’s not needed or short your best land of the extra fertilizer it needs?  Once you get the hang of it, it should only take you three minutes per field or less to make your own prescription maps.  Variable rate is great for the environment, your crop, and your pocketbook.
  9. This is going to seem obvious, but don’t put more fertilizer on ground that doesn’t need it or can’t hold it.  If you have good soil test data, you should be able to identify areas in fields that don’t need certain types of fertilizer.  For example, if you are raising corn and you already have 6 percent base saturation K, why on earth in a very tight margin year would you apply more K?  Likewise, if you have ground with a 9 CEC, why would you ever apply 150 pounds of N in one application when the soil can’t hold it?  We are big believers in split-application where necessary, depending on the soil type and environmental conditions.
  10. Learn how to read a soil test.  If you don’t know how, we can teach you in February at an Ag PhD Soils Clinic.  Are you spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on blind faith that someone else is giving you the exact, perfect advice on which fertilizer products to use so you are maximizing your profit?  No one cares more about your land or your bottom line than you.  Shouldn’t you be the one in control of this huge investment?