PILOT

Hello all Its finally dried up enough here in IN to plant my food plots, mainly corn and beans. I recently purchased a new seed drill to use on my food plots as well as my landscaping company and it will plant everything from corn to grass seed to clover. This drill pulls behind a four wheeler and can be used on a 3 pt. hitch. Im glad to finally get to experiment with this thing as its finally stopped raining for more than a day. I am in no way affiliated with Kasco the people who make the drill, but anyone looking for something like this should check out their website. Any way I just drilled my corn yesterday and was thinking about the best way to fertilize it. Will the granular 20-10-10 penetrate the soil and get down to the corn which is 1 1/2 to 2" in the ground? My local fertilizer co. recommended 500lbs./ acre. , which would cost a little over 200$. A local farmer told me that Id be lucky to get much of the granular fertilizer down to the corn. This farmer recommended waiting a month and mixing something with the round up to spray together. I planted roundup corn so I could control weeds a little easier. I think the farmer called the fertilzer 38 that he would mix with the round up. So whats the best route to take at this point? Ive thought about anhydrous but its real expensive. Just want to make sure I get a decent stand of corn as Ive already got good money in this project. Going out now to drill in some soy beans. This same farmer said he never fertilizes his beans and said I shouldnt worry about fertilizing them, this doesnt sound quite right to me. Thanks for any advice.

Dan O.

Pilot; did you do any soil analysis before you planted? I would have worked the fertilizer into the soil before planting or side dressed it when you planted. The Nitrogen and Potassium will penetrate the soil well but Phosphorous is very slow moving down into the soil. Did you innoculate the soya beans before you planted? That would look after your Nitrogen requirements, but the P and K could still be lacking.

Dan O.

farm hunter

Good luck Pilot,

The Nitrogen, broadcast, will get down just fine after a rain or two - I use UREA, (46-0-0) if I have to broadcast. It would have been good to disk in the P & K, but unless you' re planting very infertile ground, you' ll probably be OK with a first planting. The farmer was likey advising adding fertilizer later on, because corn cannot use much N, until its almost knee high - then it uses ALOT. Since your using roundup ready corn, you do not have to worry much about the weeds using the N early on. Also, the heavier the soil (clay like) then, the less important it is to wait to put N down.

Incidently. If you buy your fertilizer in a bulk bag at a co-op - mixed - it can be a lot cheaper. This year I bought 1200 lbs of a Urea/MAP Mix (mostly N & P) for a starter band with corn - it cost $189.00. The co-op rents a major big bag (all in one bag - mixed) for $10.00 each.

Make sure you spray when the weeds are young ( 6" or less) for best results.

Let us know how you make out.

PILOT

Thanks Dan O. and Farmhunter for the advice. Its great to have such a wealth of info. from guys with experience right at my finger tips. I did have a soil sample taken about 6 weeks ago and It recommended between 2 to 3 tons of lime to the acre, which was put on about 5 weeks ago. The fertilizer co. sent in my soil sample so I assume their recommendations are in line with it. So farmhunter would you follow the 20-10-10 recommendation or go with the straight urea? Will the Nitogen still be in the ground when the corn gets knee high and can use it best or will I need to apply more at that time? The 38 the farmer was talking about mixing with the roundup do you think this was straight urea?

farm hunter

The " 38" the farmer was talking about is a coumpond, (see below link - 14-38-10).
I' ve never used it.

http://www.sabic.com/en/products/fer...rs/amonia.html

Whether I broadcast Urea or not would depend on the K & P levels in the soil indicated by the soil test. Assuming those levels were at least OK....yes I' d broadcast Urea (200 lb/acre - unless I knew different). If your soil test says you need P & K I' d apply some of that too.

Dan O.

Farm Hunter is the Rape expert. In the early growth stages any of the grain plant should be soft and tender to the deer.

Dan O.