Boost Corn ROI: Focus On Fertilizer Timing And Placement

Corn roots will tell you whether they are getting adequate nutrients to reach high yield goals this season – if you go out in fields, dig and look.

High-yield corn growers David Hula and Randy Dowdy say they routinely walk farmers’ fields and dig where fertilizer was broadcast applied and evaluate corn root development. The evidence often tells them the roots and fertilizer had little or no connection.

“If 40% of your fertilizer never touches a root, what good did it do you?” says Dowdy, who’s based near Valdosta, Ga.

That significant of a disconnect between corn roots and fertilizer sounds unlikely, given today’s high-tech machinery, tools and agronomic sophistication, but Dowdy and Hula say it happens all too frequently.

It’s just one reason they’re telling corn growers to bear down on the 4Rs of nutrient use this season – right source, right rate, right time, right place. Where they see farmers stumble most frequently is with the right time and right placement.

“Farmers are trying to be as efficient as possible this season, so we’re focusing on how to turn those fertilizer applications into dollars,” says Hula, who’s based near Charles City, Va.

Relay Fertility Helps Build Yield

Dowdy says he and Hula like to use a relay approach to fertility for corn – where one application of nutrients supports corn growth and development until the next round of nutrients can take the baton.

“When the plant needs fertilizer, it needs it, and we don’t want it spending a lot of energy going to look for it,” Dowdy says. “We want corn to have luxury feeding on fertilizer, and we want it to be in that root zone and be available immediately.

“So, placement of the fertilizer is a big deal. Ask yourself, when we place that fertilizer, how long is it going to last? Will it be there when the plant needs it, as it goes from growth stage to growth stage? What’s the corn going to tap into when it’s determining the number of rows around, or when it’s determining ear size?” Dowdy asks.

Have A Timing and Placement Strategy

Hula says he has changed what he did traditionally with fertilizer applications in corn, back when he farmed with his dad. Historically, they would broadcast some fertilizer in front of the disk and then use some starter.

“From the time I can remember, the tractors had fertilizer tanks on them. And now, to me, starter placement is 2” beside the seed and 2” below the seed, and not in the furrow.”

However, he adds, there are a huge number of options for corn growers today who are using strip-till, his go-to system.

“We can portion fertilizer before we plant. We can portion fertilizer in the seed trench, in-furrow, and then we got the starter application,” he says. “We want to put fertilizer in a position where the plant can utilize it, and that’s where the starter comes into play.”

Some of the options growers have for fertilizer applications are not convenient, Hula acknowledges.

“I get growers; they don’t want to stop their planter when it’s go-time. They want to plant now,” he says. “So, you got to have a position. You got to want to do something.

“We put out 26.5 gallons with a side placement. Even with a 16-row planter on these small field sizes, we can get roughly 150 acres a day, and that’s a long day. But in that fertilizer, we got nitrogen, we got phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, boron, and then whatever properties we want to go in there. These are just a couple things that growers could be looking at,” he adds.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Hula says with warm temperatures in his area last week, some neighbors north of him started planting corn. But then rain moved in on Sunday.

“That corn came up out of the ground, and it’s going to wish it was back in the bag today,” Hula told Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk, on Tuesday. “We won’t start planting corn at the earliest until next week.”

He says pythium, damping-off, is a big problem for local corn growers and something he wants to avoid.

Dowdy says an overabundance of rain is an issue in his area now, too, so he’s holding off from going to the field.

“We got some guys down here that’s planting corn in April, and I have never made high-yield corn planting in April in Georgia,” Dowdy says. “I’m not interested in getting started on a bad foot. Getting that corn coming out of the ground fast, and coming out of the ground timely and uniformly, it’s a big deal.”

Here’s some perspective for farmers itching to get into fields on what the U.S. weather outlook is for the rest of this week. This chart was pulled from X, formerly Twitter, and it’s live. You can click on the maps to get more details.

Get more of Dowdy and Hula’s perspective on growing high-yield corn on Breaking Barriers - AgriTalk

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