Manitoba’s crop experts outlined one tactic to help farmers find out at the 2025 Crop Diagnostic School earlier this year at Carman.

Farmers using a ‘nitrogen ramp’ approach will increase nitrogen rates in increments, based on soil test recommendations.

It involves taking “whatever the nitrogen recommendation was from your field based in the soil test, and then comparing that to the nitrogen ramp to see, are you actually hitting (the target)?” said Anne Kirk, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.

“When is it the greenest? And then also, considering, if we’re applying more nitrogen, is that economical as well?” Kirk added.

If you’ve tested a nitrogen ramp in your cereal crop, there are a few ways to determine if your plants are taking up nitrogen as intended.

It can just be gauged by the amount of biomass in your crop and the colour of the leaf tissue to the naked eye, Kirk said — but there’s a catch to that strategy. Changing light conditions throughout the day can trick the eye and make it difficult to gauge differences in the shades of green in the leaves.

Farmers can take the guesswork out of the process with a nitrogen ramp calibration strip, she noted. Similar to a paint colour swatch you might see in the local hardware store’s paint department, the tool can help give more concrete insight.

“It’s not to identify which one is sufficient or deficient,” but rather is a comparative measure, she cautioned.

“If you have 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre compared to 100, is there actually a colour difference, or are they about the same?”

For the more tech-savvy, a device called a SPAD meter measures the amount of chlorophyll in a leaf. To take a reading, the user presses the flag leaf between the two paddles on the meter.

Kirk noted that while these readings don’t mean much on their own and do not replace soil nitrogen testing, they can be helpful when measuring against other parts of your field or where a different application rate was put down.

Nitrogen application strategies

When it comes to fall or spring nitrogen application in winter cereals, there are pros and cons to both.

“If you’re applying all of your nitrogen in the fall, the risk is that you can have excessive leaching if you have a wet fall,” Kirk said. “You can also have denitrification (gassing off of that nitrogen) and it wouldn’t be available to the plants.”

A full burst of nitrogen in the fall could also lead to excessive top growth in your plants, which could mean a less healthy crown going into winter and perhaps more winterkill, added Kirk.

“If you apply all of your nitrogen in the spring, the risk is that it could be dry … and if it doesn’t rain, that nitrogen isn’t actually getting down into the soil to your plant,” she added.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, field conditions in a wet spring could mean a grower may not get nitrogen on the field before it’s too late.

To avoid risk, Kirk suggests using a split N application — a portion applied in the fall and a portion in the spring to reduce the risks from both of these types of potential losses.

The key is making sure that nutrient is available to winter cereals when the crop is likely to need it the most.

“We know that winter wheat takes up about 30 to 40 per cent of its total nitrogen needs by stem elongation,” said Kirk. “So we really want to make sure that nitrogen is on and available for the plant by the time stem elongation happens.”

For more information on nitrogen ramp calibration strips, visit the Manitoba Agriculture website.

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John Heard, a soil fertility extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says there’s no question a parched field can make fall banding more difficult.

“It’s very hard to get injection into dry soil. A lot of horsepower (is required). It’s hard on equipment, and also may be hard to get good sealing of those trenches if using anhydrous ammonia,” he says. “Those are all challenges to a good in-soil banded fertility program in excessively dry conditions.”

Heard maintains it’s an even greater challenge with heavy clay soils, since it can be difficult to get clods down to a size where they will provide sufficient tilth.

“If the clods are big, the air voids are big, and if the air voids are big, then there’s more access for anhydrous ammonia particularly to escape to the surface,” he says. “It’s simple physics … you can pack marbles tighter than you can pack billiard balls.”

Farmers Edge agronomist Thom Weir says in instances like this, farmers should think carefully about applying anhydrous ammonia in the fall. He believes if a clay soil is too dry, “you basically don’t put ammonia down because you get a lot of losses (with) that application.

“If the soil flow isn’t good behind the applicator, it basically leaves a cut in the ground and it just gases off out of there,” Weir adds.

As Heard points out, there are different ways farmers work around the challenges with banding anhydrous ammonia into really dry soil.

“Sometimes, if it’s part of their production system, they’ll do some tillage in advance to break up the clods and then they will put their fertilizer on,” he says.

Another tactic is to place the nutrient band deeper so there’s more soil above it to capture and hold the nitrogen in place. And there are some farmers who will try to wait for rain to soften the soil a little before going in with the applicator.

“It doesn’t take much, but they’ll get some surface moisture to kind of mellow the soil out to where they can get good soil tilth,” says Heard.

“Farmers are aware of these strategies. Ideally, you’re not going to employ them, but it gives us some options when it comes to banding in the fall.”

An earlier start

The flip side of dry soils is they may provide farmers with an opportunity to get an early start on their fall applications of anhydrous ammonia if they wish.

Weir notes one effect of drought is a reduction in biological activities in the soil that can cause fertilizer denitrification and leaching. Weir says because of this, banding can conceivably begin sooner than is usually recommended — as long as there’s no rain in the forecast, that is. The danger is if rain falls before the soil temperature drops below 10 C, the nitrogen could be converted into other forms and lost.

Weir says studies have shown an early ammonia application on well-drained soils after the middle of September can produce the same yields as those from late fall and spring applications.

The soil microorganisms that convert ammonia to nitrate need moisture, he says, so if a farmer has confidence it’s going to remain dry all fall, “you could band your fertilizer September 1 and get very, very little conversions and risk of losses.”

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“There’s lots of data that shows seeding early has a significant benefit to yield,” he says, adding that for most crops it can be up to two per cent a day.

“If you can … start seeding five days earlier because you don’t have to worry about applying fertilizer, that can, right off the bat, give you around a 10 per cent yield advantage.”

Fall is also often the time when farmers can take advantage of lower fertilizer costs. Weir, who makes a point of tracking prices, says, “Ninety per cent of the time at least, fertilizer is significantly cheaper in the fall than in the spring. So that’s a big plus.”

John Heard, a soil fertility extension specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says fall fertilizer applications continue to be a well-accepted practice, particularly in Manitoba.

“It works well with our production system here,” he says. “I think our fertilizer use surveys have shown somewhere between 35 and 45 per cent of (Manitoba) farmers put down fall fertilizer, and often (that’s) banded anhydrous ammonia or banded urea.

“We do less zero till than Saskatchewan and Alberta,” Heard says, adding farmers there favour more one-pass seeding and fertilizing.

“We certainly have some of that here. But, for now… rightfully or wrongfully, there’s more tillage being done in Manitoba, and that fall anhydrous ammonia pass sometimes just does the job.”

Of course, fall fertility applications may not be an option if Mother Nature doesn’t co-operate. “Sometimes, you just can’t get it done,” says Heard, noting the unusually wet fall two years ago prevented many western Canadian farmers from laying in fertilizer on time.

“In those cases, then farmers need to develop a Plan B, which is often a spring application of some description, but it may be one they’re not really set up to do with (their) equipment,” he says.

Heard says producers who miss the fall window for fertilizer applications can plan with their agronomists how to meet their fertility needs later. However, if too many farmers are in the same position, he adds, they could face a supply squeeze the following spring.

“A lot of our fertilizer dealers here, too, are not all set up to deliver and apply all the fertilizer in the spring. They really count on this fall application to get a good bunch of the nitrogen out,” says Heard.

Avoid nitrate forms of fertilizer

Nutrient losses are always something to consider when formulating fertility plans. Heard and Weir caution farmers against fall applications of nitrogen in a nitrate form because that’s when it’s most susceptible to losses caused by denitrification, volatilization and leaching.

“We’re not fans of nitrate forms going down in the fall,” says Heard. “(They) are vulnerable to losses right off the hop.”

Heard doesn’t recommend using urea ammonium nitrate for that reason and says better choices for fall applications are anhydrous ammonia, urea or an enhanced efficiency product like ESN or SuperU.

“Ammonium sulphate, generally used as a sulphur source, can provide nitrogen also,” he adds. “(It’s) best put down late in the fall so that nitrogen stays in the ammonium form rather than the nitrate.”

Heard says when it comes to fall fertilizer applications, in-soil banding is generally considered a much better option than broadcasting fertilizer on the soil surface. That’s because banding not only inhibits nitrate conversion but also helps protect fertilizer from immobilization by soil microbes, leaving more nutrients available for plant uptake.

If nitrogen is broadcast rather than banded, it becomes readily accessible to soil microbes, which will use it to decompose straw before the nitrogen is available for use by crop roots, Heard explains. “We want (soil microbes) to decompose straw, but we want them to be second in line behind our crop plants,” he says. “We don’t want them to be first in line.” 

Heard says for optimal performance, it’s best that fall-banded fertilizer is not disturbed during spring tillage or seeding operations.

When banding anhydrous ammonia in the fall, it’s important the ground be sealed behind the knives to reduce the risk of nitrogen loss. Heard says the best time to do this is when the soil isn’t too wet or too dry.

“We like to have moist soil ideally to do that, then we have good tilth, meaning those slots can close up nicely and the moisture is there to hold (in) the ammonia also,” he says.

Heard suggests one way to assess soil conditions in a field is to do a test run with the fertilizer applicator to assess how cloddy the soil is and whether it can pack well enough to provide a good seal. Farmers can also do a short pass with anhydrous ammonia and then go back to check whether there’s a strong ammonia smell.

“If it’s unbearable, well, then you stop,” says Heard. “You park, and you wait for better moisture conditions.”

Heard and Weir agree farmers should avoid applying fall fertilizers into wet soils (or fields that are likely to become waterlogged) because that’s asking for trouble.

“If you’ve got a low lying, poorly drained field, that’s not where I put on a fall banding or fall treatment of any sort,” says Weir.

Wait for soil to cool down

Fall-applied nitrogen is best applied banded when soils have cooled down to 5 C, or are at least below 10 C at depth, says Heard. At those temperatures, it will tend to remain in a stabilized form until spring, reducing the risk of ammonia to nitrate conversion and subsequent nutrient losses.

“The cooler it is, the less conversion there is,” Heard says. “When it’s warm, it’s much quicker.”

Heard and Weir say on most Prairie farms, optimal soil temperatures will usually occur around Canadian Thanksgiving.

Heard says farmers may be tempted to apply nitrogen earlier if they have time, particularly if there are attractive pricing offers from fertilizer dealers, but they could end up regretting the decision. “If it was to be put on (too) early, even nitrogen that’s in anhydrous ammonia will convert from the ammonium form to nitrate, and then it is vulnerable to losses.”

Heard says nitrogen losses with early applications don’t always occur, noting that fall banding on warm soils performed as well as — or better — than spring banding at some Manitoba research sites located on well-drained upper slopes. Early banding on warm soils did result in high nitrogen losses in wet conditions with poorly drained, depressional soils, however.

As Heard points out, farmers do have options if they’re planning an early fall fertilizer application when conditions aren’t ideal.

“If a grower makes a decision to apply at what we would normally consider an inappropriate time, now, fortunately, we have some technology that allows him to do some of that while reducing the risk,” he says.

These technologies include nitrification inhibitors, like N-Serve or Centuro for anhydrous ammonia and eNtrench for urea, which contain ingredients toxic to nitrifying bacteria that help keep fall-applied nitrogen in the ammonium form, says Heard. SuperU has both a nitrification inhibitor and a urease inhibitor, which slows the initial conversion of urea to ammonia, he notes.

Weir maintains nitrification inhibitors can be useful in situations where there are variable moisture levels within a field. If there are low spots that aren’t as well drained as the rest of the field, for example, a nitrification inhibitor can be added to delay ammonia to nitrate conversion in those areas.

Weir says controlled-release products like ESN, a urea fertilizer with a polymer coating, are another option for farmers considering early fall nitrogen applications. These products can reduce losses by delaying the initial release of nitrogen and providing it gradually to better match crop uptake needs.

The urea in ESN needs warm, moist conditions in order to leak out of the polymer and into the soil, which physically reduces the amount of product that is available for losses in the fall, especially in dry conditions, Weir notes.

He says some farmers will blend ESN with regular urea and then band it as a way to hedge their bets if conditions worsen after fall applications. “If they lose 50 per cent of the urea, they’ve still got all the ESN, so it’s an insurance program,” he says.

Consider co-banding phosphorus

Putting in phosphorus not only helps replenish fields depleted in the nutrient, but it can also boost yields.

Fall can be a good time to apply phosphorus, since it doesn’t move around as easily in the soil as nitrogen and is less susceptible to losses as a result. It’s also a way farmers can spread out their phosphorus programs, so that what’s being put in at seeding time doesn’t exceed seed-safe rates.

“If they’re putting on fall nitrogen anyway, that’s an opportune time to co-band phosphorus with their nitrogen,” Heard says. “We see that as another gold star practice that doesn’t encumber spring fertilization and reduces risk of damage from you having to put down too much phosphorus with the seed.”

Heard says the dual placement of phosphate with nitrogen will tend to increase the availability of the phosphorus to the following year’s crop due to the acidifying nature of anhydrous ammonia. Banding phosphorus and nitrogen together also keeps the phosphorus under the soil surface so it’s less vulnerable to losses from runoff and snowmelt.

Monoammonium phosphate is a widely used source of phosphorus and nitrogen. Weir says it works well on its own or blended with other products like urea, ESN or SuperU in a banded fall application.

Weir recommends farmers who do this save some phosphorus to put in with the seed row in the spring. Heard agrees. “Certainly, we advocate some starter phosphorus in the spring to provide some nutrition until the seedling reaches those bands,” he says.

By co-banding nitrogen, phosphorus and, if needed, sulphur in the fall, it can make things easier and safer for farmers come spring seeding time, adds Heard.

“Canola crops need sulphur and ammonium sulphate is harsh (when placed) in the seed row of canola,” he says. “If you can co-band your ammonium sulphate, if that’s what you’re using, with your nitrogen in the fall … (that’s a) good spot to put it in.”

Weir maintains some growers are moving away from putting down sulphur at seeding time because of toxicity concerns with ammonium sulphate as well as some handling issues.

“It takes up moisture and can cake in the air drills and stuff like that, so a lot of guys are looking for alternatives,” explains Weir. By applying ammonium sulphate in the fall, he says, this enables farmers to get their sulphur in and a good chunk of their nitrogen out of the way as well.”

Farmers who use ammonium sulphate likely won’t have to apply any more sulphur to their fields for the following three cropping years, Weir adds.

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Wet conditions in many parts of the province are making it tough for farmers to get their machines onto fields, according to Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.

“We just drove from Winnipeg to Dauphin on the Yellowhead (Highway 16) and there were lots of fertilizer tanks parked on fields sitting there just too wet to complete,” he said Friday.

Producers in the province’s southwest had a good start to laying down fertilizer, but north of Winnipeg, many producers were delayed due to late-season hail.

“They were behind the eight-ball because in late October, early November, they were still harvesting,” said Mazier, who farms in the southwest at Justice, Man.

The delay is noteworthy as the province’s deadline for fertilizer applications is Tuesday.

From Nov. 10 to April 10, farmers are forbidden under the Water Protection Act from laying down nitrogen or phosphorous during that period, due to concerns over runoff.

“Mother Nature makes the ultimate decision, though,” said John Heard, a provincial soil fertility extension specialist at Carman, Man.

Last year, producers ran into similar problems with moisture, so the province issued an extension, to give them time to hit the fields.

However, Heard said, it snowed just a few days after the original deadline had expired, which effectively closed the door on applications altogether.

Ideally, he said, you want the same moisture as you would have for planting conditions, when applying fertilizer into the soil, “in order to do a good job with that machinery and those forms of fertilizer.”

Another factor to consider, he said, is how many producers are inclined to fertilize given present market conditions.

“Talking to some dealers, there seems to be a lack of desire to spend money on fertilizer with collapsing commodity prices and maybe not a lot of crop sales yet,” he said.

Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship is expected to announce Monday whether it will grant another extension.

— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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Fertilizer prices are being driven by crop prices and the global market, and both those factors are keeping prices steady, said David Asbridge, president at NPK Fertilizer Advisory Service.

“Farmers are going to have to look and decide if they can afford their fertilizers this year, how much they want to buy, how much they want to apply this fall, and anticipation of what they’re going to plant next spring,” he said.

Canadian and U.S. fertilizer prices are tracked together based on local conditions, he said.

Indications of crop improvement and a good-sized wheat harvest will likely increase fertilizer use in Canada, despite lower wheat prices, he said.

But if crop prices continue to fall, crop budgets tighten, which leads to less fertilizer use.

Globally, Asbridge said, market watchers are keeping an eye on China and Brazil, but he doesn’t anticipate the market will make any dramatic swings soon.

China has been exporting a lot of urea, which has kept a cap on that market. If prices sink lower China may stop exporting which would strengthen prices.

Brazilian traders have been holding off on buying potash and phosphate due to a fall in the value of the real.

Moving into the fall, Asbridge said he doesn’t see much on the horizon to move fertilizer prices higher. Traders are watching imports into the U.S. and the weather as driving factors for the market.

“If the new corn crop turns out to be big, or if we have any type of issues with weather getting the crop out that limits the time that farmers have to put fertilizer down this fall.”

— Jade Markus writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

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