Fertilizer

There is nothing prettier than a combine full of grain.  This is a friend's picture of his combine full of wheat in southeast Ohio.  Combines were full of wheat in Ohio this month if they paid attention to planting date and fertilizer.

This field received 200 0-0-60, 150- 18-34-0, Dribble 28 30lb actual at flag leaf stage.  Compare that to the 100 AMS, 100 lbs. 11-52-0, 100 lbs 0-0-60 plus micronutrients mine received.  They both yielded in the 90's which is a good yield for soft red winter wheat here.  My topdress was 150 lbs urea and 100 AMS and a ton and a half of high calcium lime that tests 34% calcium and less than 1% magnesium in April on the standing wheat.

I know of wheat that made 50 bushels across the road of fields that made over 90 bushels.  The difference was planting date and amount and type of fertilizer applied to it.  Fertilizer makes that much difference here.

Fertilizer prices are a little "softer" here so one fellow asked on Crop Talk if that would encourage more fertilizer usage this fall?  I would think so, but my answer is I need to budget all the fertilizer my soil and tissue tests say I need regardless of cost.  "Don't guess, soil test and follow it up with a tissue test" has worked well for me.  It may be a dart board but I need that dart board to have any idea what to apply to meet my next crop's needs.

I can make more money by taking care of the ground I have rather than trying to farm the whole county.  Everyone is trying to do that now and 90% of them have more resources than I have. I must focus on what I have and what I can do.

One real estate agent called me about a nice 100 acre farm he just listed for $4000 per acre.  That is 2/3 of what a piece near it just sold for but that piece had 234 ac almost all tillable and this one only has 30 acres.  Even though it has lots of road frontage, it doesn't pencil out for me because I don't split up farms.

The point is getting a parcel of ground to cash flow requires the right payment amount and not too much debt.  I can't sacrifice fertilizer for rent or farm payments.  It just doesn't work out.

Ed Winkle