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Lack of fall-applied anhydrous has many farmers looking for spring options.

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist

February 13, 2019

3 Min Read
anhydrous ammonia white tank in field
PRODUCT PROTECTION: Farmers putting on anhydrous ammonia this spring may want to consider a nitrogen stabilizer to avoid denitrification and leaching from early-season rains. chas53/Getty Images

A wet fall meant less anhydrous ammonia applied across much of the Corn Belt. The situation has farmers facing spring decisions such as choosing products to prevent nitrogen loss or possibly switching nitrogen sources all together.

Greg Schwab, director of agronomy for Koch Agronomic Services, says not much intended fall nitrogen made it onto farm fields. So, there likely will be a rush of spring applications.

“There will be earlier than normal applications,” Schwab says. Farmers in the Midwest likely will head to the fields in late February and early March, whenever the ground and weather allow. 

Avoid loss
Schwab says now more than ever, farmers should consider adding a nitrogen stabilizer to their crop management plan. “Over the years, as the size of farms have increased, our window of time for applying anhydrous ammonia is getting more condensed and more challenging,” he says. 

Farmers heading to the fields early should consider protecting their nitrogen investment. Products such as Koch’s Centuro offer nitrogen investment protection during these more finicky weather patterns.

Centuro, a nitrification inhibitor, can be used in both fall and spring applications. It works by slowing the conversion of ammonium into nitrate. In the nitrate form, it is susceptible to leaching and moving away from the plant’s root zone. However, products such as Centuro slow the conversion, holding the nitrogen in the ammonia form three times longer than without an inhibitor, Schwab says.

Keeping it in the field
Using a model derived from third-party lab studies and University of Nebraska data, Koch estimates that during spring application with temperatures at 75 degrees F, all the nitrogen applied without an inhibitor could be nitrified in two weeks. By adding Centuro, it’s estimated that less than 40% of the applied nitrogen would be nitrified in the same period.

Schwab knows farmers are looking at the bottom line in corn production. “Centuro protects your nitrogen investment by keeping it in place and available for the plant,” he says.

Time’s up
Ultimately, the weather determines whether farmers can apply spring anhydrous.  “If it continues to stay wet in spring,” Schwab says, “we will see product switching. What was intended for anhydrous ammonia will switch to urea and UAN.”

The reason behind substituting urea and UAN is because these products are faster to apply. With a spinner spreader with an 80-foot spread pattern going along at 15 mph in a field, farmers can cover a lot of ground in a day. Typically, an anhydrous rig can cover 400 to 600 acres a day.  “You can cover four times as much ground with a spinner as you can with an anhydrous applicator,” Schwab says. 

However, he warns that product-switching from ammonia means managing a different loss mechanism — volatilization.

If urea is left on the surface of the soil and not incorporated with either tillage or rainfall, the molecule can break apart and release nitrogen into the atmosphere. Farmers not familiar with urea may not realize volatilization losses can be 40% and higher in extreme weather conditions.

Schwab says farmers should look at ways to prevent ammonia volatilization. This winter, Koch released Anvol, a urease inhibitor with dual active ingredients, both Koch’s patented Duromide and NBPT.

No matter what the fertilizer choice, Schwab says farmers should protect their investment. “There are many options available,” he says. “Check with your local retailer to see what works best in your field.”

About the Author(s)

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

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