Fertilizer for Strip-Till

Fertilizer for Strip-TillDr. 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 broadcastSpring broadcastSpring band 2 X 2

Options for Strip-Till P & K-Fall deep (4-6 inches) bandFall broadcastSpring broadcastSpring band 2 X 2In addition, a small amount ofseed-placed or 2X2 band starter.

The most common method of applicationis fall N/P/K during the fall preparation trip.~6 inchesOr fall P & K followed by side-dress

Considerations for fall N application-Sand, loamy sand, sandy loam? NOEasily saturated in spring? MaybeWait until soil temp cools below 50 degrees Ffor ammonia and another week if urea.Don’t use UAN.

Strip Tillage with FertilizerBanding

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 soilconditions in most year with depth.

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 APPLICATIONYieldFall Spring Planting Sidedress Bu/acre0 0 0 0 111AA+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 Indiana0-2"Depth (in.)2-6"6-10"0 50 100 150 200 250Source: Vyn et al., Better Crops #4, 2002Soil-test K (ppm)

RESPONSE OF CORN TO ROW-APPLIED KON A SILTY CLAY LOAM SOIL (3 yr. avg.)YIELD RESPONSE (bu/a)35302520151050SOIL TEST KOPTIMUMV. HIGH< 5 t 19 tDr. Wolkowski, UW, Oshkosh, Wis. (45 lb K 2 0/a)

Wisconsin, effect of tillage and P/K placementon corn yield, corn on corn, ave. of 2 years.None Brdcst2 X 2 DeepCT 178 185 191ST 185 185 181 174

Wisconsin, effect of tillage and P/K placementon corn yield, corn on soybean, ave. of 2 years.None Brdcst2 X 2 DeepCT 199 198 201ST 196 214 205 212

Minnesota, starter trial, average of 3 years.Includes strip-till treatment, 5 inches below.Starter CCC CCSb CSbNone 157b 162a 179b150 lb 9-23-30 167a 164a 188aStarter provided a boost in two of three cropping systemsat 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 fallbanded 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 thispresentationdavid.franzen@ndsu.edu