Ken Ferrie often tells farmers, “Don’t let your corn ever have a bad day.”
What he means by that is make sure you provide your corn crop with adequate nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), from the beginning to the end of the crop’s growth so you can produce the most bushels possible.
The current high input prices in the marketplace, along with doubts about product availability next spring, are throwing a lot of wrenches into what farmers are planning to do. Valid concerns have many growers putting the majority of their N on fields this fall as anhydrous (NH3).
Is that a wise decision? A bad decision? A somewhere in the middle-of-the-road kind of decision?
It’s difficult for anyone to say at this point, and no one has a crystal ball to tell you what the future holds for input prices and availability.
One thing you do need to know, Ferrie says, is that if you’re relying primarily – or completely – on a fall anhydrous application to fuel your 2022 corn crop, you’re probably in for a rocky start to your corn crop at the very least.
“If this is your normal program, you won’t notice a difference of course. But if your normal program was some pre-plant, plus some N on the planter and then maybe coming back with sidedress, prepare for a slower start in your corn crop than what you’re used to, because fall anhydrous is not good at paying the carbon penalty,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist and owner of Crop-Tech Consulting Inc., Heyworth, Ill.
“Most years we don’t see the fall N kick-in until around V6 or V8 when the corn is about knee-high,” he adds. “My advice would be stay away from those G hybrids, the ones that flex (down) mainly in girth. They will give up 20 bushels an acre out of the gate, and you’re not going to get that back.”
In this week’s Boots In The Field podcast, Ferrie discusses what you can expect next spring, if you’re using mainly NH3 as your nitrogen source. Listen to his full report here:
Ferrie: 5 Reasons To Not Apply All Your Nitrogen Upfront
Don’t be Nitrogen Lost in 2021
Close The Gate on Nitrogen Loss
A Nitrogen Shortage is Brewing, So What Will it Take to Cure The World’s Fertilizer Deficiency?
