My seeding equipment consists of a 30-foot set of John Deere 9450 hoe drills. Up to this point we could only apply dry product in the seed row. We had to be careful how much granular fertilizer we applied, as the extremely high salt content burned the seed, especially in soybeans.

This meant either applying the extra product with a spin-spreader (when one was available to rent), or figuring out some way I could band it in, as I don’t have the equipment to do that.

In 2009 my eyes were opened as to how much money I was wasting with this process. We had just finished spreading a $119-acre fertilizer blend, and were ready to seed the next morning. That night it started raining. The field didn’t dry up until weeks later when it was too late to plant a crop. Next spring’s soil tests showed virtually zero nutrients remaining. They either volatilized into the air, leached down past the root zone or got tied up in my high calcareous/high pH soil. So much for the concept of “building fertility levels in your soil.”

Switching to liquid?

Frustrated, I began to look for another way to fix my situation. We could have seeded that field if I hadn’t been delayed by two days waiting to get a spreader.

I looked at using liquid fertilizer, but it just seemed too cumbersome to switch over and all the fertilizer experts on the speaking circuit were downplaying the liquid products, citing “too expensive,” “hard to handle,” “special equipment needed,” and even “snake oil.”

Yet the more I looked, the more liquid fertilizer seemed to satisfy what I was looking to do. In soybeans, for example, every pound of granular phosphorus laid down in the seed row reduced the plant stand by 0.5 per cent. That meant 20 pounds of phosphorus would wipe out 10 per cent of my plant stand.

Liquid phosphorus in the form of 6-22-2 wasn’t like that. I could apply all I wanted into the seed row, and it was still seed-safe because of the extremely low salt index.

With nitrogen, we’ve been taught all these years that “more is better” to the point of having nitrogen toxicity in the root zone. But if I was to switch over to liquid, how would I address the huge amounts of nitrogen that my fertilizer dealer was insisting needed to be placed in front of the seed? It seemed that one solution only created yet another problem.

Then I stumbled across some research that permanently changed my mindset and my thinking about fertility.

Research trials

There were some scientifically replicated trials done over a three year period by Dr. Bill Hamman that showed that foliar applied melted urea had a 4.2:1 efficiency factor as opposed to soil applied. In other words, if I applied 10 pounds of actual nitrogen as a foliar application it had the same effect on the plant as 42 pounds dropped into the ground!

This had my attention, immediately. Think of the cost savings with just that alone!

Digging further, I found that University of California, Davis also did replicated trials and found that phosphorus intake efficiencies were even higher than for nitrogen, to the tune of 20:1! Why hadn’t this research been done years ago in Western Canada?

The problem was that back a number of years ago, most farms didn’t have sophisticated high clearance sprayers for this type of application, and liquid kits for cultivators and drills were very basic and crude at best. Now, more and more farms have high clearance rigs, either self-propelled or pull-type, so that has been addressed. Liquid kits for drills are also gaining rapid popularity as they not only are relatively simple to install, but are accurate. One liquid phosphorus company will even sell the kit to you and credit you back on the product you apply over the next two years, virtually making the entire kit cost-free to the farmer.

Homemade remedy

Now, how do I deal with getting liquid nitrogen, as it is nowhere near as common as dry 46-0-0? The answer is simple — make it at home! I did, and continue to do so.

With some help from Leo Lutz, Northern Alberta district sales manager with Alpine Plant Foods Corporation, I was given the recipe for melting dry 46-0-0 into a liquid form, which could be applied as a foliar to utilize the above efficiency numbers.

What was required for the process was quite basic: a cone bottom tank, a pump and an auger. That’s it.

The formula was simple as well: 675 gallons of water and two metric tonnes of 46-0-0 produced 1,000 gallons of 18-0-0. That was enough to do 200 acres with a 42 pounds per acre nitrogen equivalency. The entire process was not only simple but took less than a half hour to complete. My son and I even did up a video to chronicle the events of our first attempt — find it at www.fabianseedfarms.com/videos.html.

Fertility management

One thing we realized with this new system is how it moved us to a whole new level in fertility management.

In the past, when we were dealing with dry fertilizer, it always frustrated me that we could never adequately address the issue of micronutrients due to the inability to apply 1.5 lbs. (a little over a handful) across 43,560 square feet where every plant would get it.

Most times, we were encouraged to “forget about the micros and just apply more nitrogen, because that is where you will see the difference.” So much for balanced fertility.

Using liquid makes a major difference. Now, when we know we are chronically deficient with a micronutrient in our field we can very easily address the problem by applying it right in the seed row as a liquid with our melted urea and liquid phosphorus. Every seed gets it, not just the chosen few.

If it turns out after taking a tissue test, we are still deficient in an element, we can easily apply it as a foliar by using a chelated micronutrient, in conjunction with the 6-22-2 liquid phosphorus as a carrier. This is done to facilitate the absorption of the micro, as by itself it may not be taken in by the plant. Our experience with liquid fertilizer is showing us that by balancing our nutrient requirements we can begin to reduce the amount of nitrogen we have been conditioned to put on in the past, without sacrificing yield, yet eliminating the buildup of an almost toxic band in the soil from all the front-end loaded nitrogen.

While everything we have is grown under irrigation, this technique would have an absolutely perfect fit in a dryland situation. Rather than front-end load all your fertilizer hoping for lots of moisture, put some down with the seed. Then, if it is turning out to be a dry year you look like a genius to your banker because you haven’t gone overboard with inputs. If, however it looks like you are going to have a decent year moisture-wise, go out and foliar apply another shot of fertilizer. You will still look like a genius in your banker’s eyes, and you’ll probably sleep better at night as well!

If this concept interests you I would recommend seeking the advice of a knowledgeable agronomist who comprehends this type of a fertility regime. I have met many who tell me it can’t be done or I can’t do this for a host of reasons. The biggest reason usually is that they aren’t comfortable with the concept — they don’t understand it because they weren’t schooled that way.

I certainly didn’t embark on this on my own knowledge alone. I sought out someone who was familiar with the concept to guide me, and now rely on the expertise of Gerald Anderson, an Agri-Trend agri-coach, to ensure that what I am doing is correct. He has clients who have been doing this successfully for over eight years.

Sometimes it’s scary thinking outside the box and even more so to act on your thoughts. But if it enhances profitability, it might be worth a closer look.

The post Liquid fertilizer and melting urea appeared first on Grainews.

We’ve been growing soybeans on our farm at Tilley, Alta., since 2004. They bring a great benefit to our operation, even though over the years, as with any new crop, there has been a lot of trial and error. We had to find out what worked for our region, as the research done in other parts of North America did not apply to us. No research had been done on soybeans in southern Alberta except in the 1980s where the conclusion was that this crop could not be grown in our short season climate.

That may have been true back then, but with the advent of Roundup Ready Technology for soybeans and daylight sensitive varieties, a door was finally opened and they can be successfully grows in southern Alberta. Now soybeans have been bred and developed that have greatly shortened the days to maturity and fewer heat units required.

They’re here to stay

Those who have never considered this crop will be wondering, “Are soybeans the magical silver bullet?” And, “Are they going to revolutionize my operation?”

The answer to the first question is no. Soybeans are another tool for your crop option toolbox, but just as a nine-sixteenths wrench isn’t going to fix every repair, neither will soybeans be a stand-alone solution. The answer to the second question, “Will they revolutionize your organization,” is “maybe.” They have revolutionized ours.

Soybeans offer many advantages. Here are nine of the more prominent benefits:

1. Spread out the spring seeding workload. Soybeans need to be planted when soils are warm, which usually occurs after the majority of the other crops are seeded. This relieves the stress of getting all the crops planted in such a small window of time. Typical seeding dates for soybeans are in the last two weeks of May to the first week in June.

2. Lower input costs than many other crops. Although soybeans have most of their costs up front at planting time, they tend to be cheaper than raising other crops that we’re currently growing — in some cases significantly cheaper.

Typically, a soybean crop can be planted on irrigation for less than $150 per acre for the entire year’s cash costs, fertility included. Some competing crops require almost that amount in fertilizer alone. Bottom line: fewer inputs means more manoeuvrability cash flow-wise, which means less overall risk.

3. Prepare the soil for next year’s crop. One thing that not too may other crops can boast is the ability to prepare the ground for next year’s crop. Soybeans can. As a legume, they fix huge amounts of nitrogen. To clarify that point, soybean plants require 300 pounds of nitrogen to produce a 50 bushel crop. They not only produce that amount when inoculated properly, but they also leave a significant amount behind that will be released over the next two years to following crops.

In addition, the fields are usually substantially cleaner because of the Roundup Ready Technology. The soybean crop can tolerate much higher rates of Roundup than Roundup Ready canola, thereby ensuring the target weeds are killed, not merely suppressed, avoiding potential herbicide resistance issues.

Because soybeans are both an oilseed and a pulse, they leave the ground mellow for cropping next spring. One farmer in Carbon, Alta., saw a 12 bushel per acre yield increase on his Hard Red Spring wheat planted on soybean stubble versus his canola stubble right beside in 2012. (He treated both quarters as one field to make a fair comparison.)

4. Can be grown with wheel move irrigation. Because soybeans only grow about 40 inches tall, they can easily be grown under wheel line irrigation. The pipes do not get trapped in the overgrown crop, and late-season watering can be a reality, not just a wish.

5. Pests are not an issue. Growing soybeans means no extra trips across the field with dangerous insecticides in your sprayer. No flea beetles, no cabbage seed pod weevils, no lygus bugs, no bertha armyworms threaten the crop. The stems on soybeans are hairy, and act as a natural pest deterrent.

6. Do not require specialized equipment. Unlike some crops that require specific equipment, soybeans do not. This is a bonus for those who want to try the crop for the first time — their existing equipment is sufficient. Soybeans can be planted with hoe drills, disc drills, air seeders, and planters, and harvested with no modifications to combines. Every combine comes from the factory with settings for soybeans!

7. Spread out harvest work load. Just as in the spring, soybeans are extremely flexible at harvest. They have an incredible shattering resistance and can be left standing in the field until you are ready to combine them. If you have higher risk crops ready the same time as the soybeans, leave them stand and do the high-risk crops first. Soybeans won’t lodge or shatter on the ground and can be harvested at five miles per hour if desired.

8. Grading factor leniency. If you have grown pulses before you are probably aware of the strict grading rules dealing with harvest and auger damage. Not so with soybeans. If you split a soybean, it’s not dockage; in fact if you took that split and broke it again it still isn’t dockage. Neither are cracks or chips up to 15 per cent of the sample. Unlike canola with a limit of three per cent green seed, soybean grading allows up to five per cent greens with no penalty.

9. Easy cash flow. Being the second most liquid traded commodity in North America, soybeans are extremely easy to market. They can be pre-sold based on the Chicago futures and up to three crop years in advance as well.

Soybeans changed our farm

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that soybeans have revolutionized our farm. Here’s how.

Traditionally, alfalfa has been grown in our area for rotation, disease break, spreading out work load, fixing nitrogen and cash flow. The problem is, very rarely can we put up proper alfalfa (both cuttings) without it getting degraded by rain.

It’s frustrating trying to market a rain-damaged product, often at break-even or worse. I can get every one of these above-mentioned points that alfalfa offers with soybeans, and I don’t require $150,000 to $200,000 worth of specialized equipment to put up hay. Also, we now have summers that are much more enjoyable where we are not constantly irrigating or haying from seeding to harvest.

As a crop to help out on the farm, soybeans would be something to look at. They will not be suited to all farms and all management systems, but they do have some good potential to help spread risk. Variety selection very is important, as we have found out.

Soybeans are working well for us, and could be a way to help diversify your farm. †

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In 2006, we started experimenting with soybeans to see if they would work in our climate. Our farm is located between Brooks and Medicine Hat in the Eastern Irrigation District just south of the Trans-Canada Highway. On average we see approximately 2,450 CHUs (corn heat units) per growing season.

Years ago there was a push to get soybeans started in the area, but the length of season and other factors never allowed the crop to get off the ground. Our first attempt had been a conventional variety that soon made me realize the weed control issues were going to be front and centre. We ended the season a little disheartened, realizing that if soybeans were going to work in our region, there needed to be some major advances agronomically compared to what we had just encountered. We ended up with approximately 20 bushels per acre, and a field that needed some extra weed control next year.

Not giving up, we spent the winter looking into other types of varieties that would work on our farm. We discovered a number of things. The variety we had grown was developed for Ontario conditions with Ontario soil profiles: acid soil, low calcium and salinity levels. In addition, it was an indeterminate variety, which had the potential to keep growing and growing, not maturing in our climate until it hit the required number of CHU. On top of all that, it was a conventional variety that meant weed control was going to be an ongoing battle. So we set out to see if there was a variety that would address each of these issues.

After a bit of digging we came across a seed company that seemed to have an answer to what we were looking for. Quarry Seed in Stonewall, Man., the Canadian distributor for Legend Seeds, had varieties that were developed for the Dakota regions, which have a land profile more closely suited to ours. Their varieties were photosensitive, which meant that instead of relying on CHUs or growing degree days alone, the soybeans “sped up” their maturity as they sensed the daylight getting shorter and the nights getting cooler. In addition to this, their varieties were Roundup Ready, which meant that weed control would be significantly easier.

We were unsure which variety would work for us, so we decided to try their earliest-maturing LS0036RR in 2007. We seeded a small field and realized that summer that we were on to something great! We didn’t need specialized row crop equipment, as we seeded them with hoe drills on a seven-inch spacing. They fit well for seeding scheduling as we planted them after all our cereals were in. Weed control was a snap. All we did was hit them with Roundup when the weeds dictated. Incidentally, another plus we found was that unlike other Roundup-tolerant crops, RR soybeans can tolerate a higher rate of glyphosate, enabling the producer to use the crop for cleaning up a field of quack grass or Canada thistle and at any stage of the soybean’s growth.

When harvest came around it seemed a bit worrisome as our cereals had already been cut and laying for a week and the soybeans were still green like they were in July. Were these things going to make it? Sure enough, the first part of September saw just a few yellow patches showing up, and within four days, the whole field was yellow. By the end of September they were ready to harvest.

By raising soybeans we have eliminated the need to raise alfalfa on our farm, thereby getting rid of a complete line of specialized haying equipment.

We weren’t done our flax yet, so we let them stand, watching to see if there was going to be any significant shattering losses, or stems breaking off from standing too long. It was amazing to watch the resiliency of this crop. It stood perfectly with nothing lost on the ground. The yield was a bit higher also, running about 28 bushels per acre. Harvesting this crop was easy as there was no lodging to contend with.

In 2008 we expanded our soybean acres and our customers put in 700 acres. We seeded six other varieties in test plots to see if there were other varieties that would be better suited to our area. Unfortunately, the growing season was so cool (250 CHUs below normal) that the soybeans were quite a bit shorter than they should have been. As a result more pods were left behind, resulting in lower yields. We were, however, starting to get a better picture as to the regional suitability. The yields were starting to say something, as we had more soybeans out around southern Alberta, and more widespread yield data. Yields ranged from 12 bushels per acre to low 50s for a high. Interestingly, the plots seeded at home showed another shining star — LS0065RR. It had grown about 30 per cent taller than the LS0036RR that we had been using. Yields were noticeably higher as well, and the decision was made to start growing the newer variety as it seemed to be working better in side-by-side trials.

When we got to 2009, LS0065RR dominated as the variety of choice. Agronomically, they were much taller off the ground, and were podding higher as well, which translated to higher yield. Despite the fact it was on average 125 CHUs cooler than our seven-year average, harvest this year saw much better results with the majority of the yields in the 35-to 56-bushel-per-acre range.

One customer commented that his dryland durum this fall ran eight bushels per acre higher on his ’08 soybean stubble and had 0.9 percentage points more protein compared to the rest of the section that did not have soybeans on it. This is not surprising given the fact that soybeans fix 30 to 50 pounds of nitrogen for the following year.

One thing we have realized over the past four years is that even though you don’t need to have specialized equipment to raise soybeans, it appears that a flex header will more than pay for itself on the first 100 acres.

What’s in store for 2010? With a bit of agronomic tweaking, we expect to see our top producers on irrigation coming in with 60 to 65 bushels per acre. We will be outsourcing third-party research trials, which we started in 2009 to give us relevant data that is specific to southern Alberta.

SOYBEANS MEAN NO MORE ALFALFA

Are soybeans here to stay? On our farm they are. Other producers are starting to realize this for their operations also. By raising soybeans we have eliminated the need to raise alfalfa on our farm, thereby getting rid of a complete line of specialized haying equipment. In addition to not having all the work and expense of haying in the summertime, we still have all the benefits that alfalfa offered. Here are a few reasons why soybeans work for our operation:

No specialized equipment required (although a flex header is recommended).

Low input costs. In most cases less than $120 cash costs per acre for the entire year.

Spreads out workload at seeding and harvest.

Roundup Ready means easy weed control.

Thirty to 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre fixed for next year’s crop.

Easy to sell. Unlike contracted crops, soybeans can be sold immediately when the farmer chooses instead of waiting for contract calls. Next to corn, it is the most liquid traded commodity in North America, and prices can be locked in for up to three years in advance.

Soybeans can be left standing without fear of shattering in years where multiple crops like alfalfa seed and flax are ready at the same time.

Unlike peas, if you crack your soybeans at harvest, they are not graded as dockage. They are counted as regular crop, and you receive full payment for them.

We are excited about how we found a soybean variety that is agronomically adapted to southern Alberta, and we will continue to strive to look for better varieties and agronomic practices to enhance producers’ bottom lines.

Patrick Fabian owns and operates a seed farm in Tilley, Alta. You can reach him at www.fabianseedfarms.comor by phone at 403-633-9999.

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