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Sidedressing Nitrogen on Corn Skyrockets in Popularity

Russ Quinn
By  Russ Quinn , DTN Staff Reporter
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Sidedressing nitrogen on corn has several advantages, including efficiency and effectiveness to increase yield potential. (DTN/The Progressive Farmer photos by Bob Elbert)

The old saying "what's old is new again" jumps to my mind when it comes to some "new" cultural practices in agriculture today. This would be true for a practice like cover crops, something my grandpa probably used during his farming career.

Another old-but-new idea is the recent popularity of split application of nitrogen on corn. The idea is simple: Nitrogen is first applied in the fall/spring; after the corn is growing, a sidedressing operation is done to give the young corn plants nutrients right as they need them.

I can remember when this practice was fairly common previously in the Corn Belt. My dad and uncle occasionally sidedressed corn with nitrogen in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They didn't like to do it much. They were concerned they'd run over young corn plants with all the point rows we had with terraces on our rolling hills of eastern Nebraska.

I would guess many farmers in our region had the same concerns. For most of the 1980s through recent years, sidedressing trips across corn fields were not very common, at least not in our area.

However, the trend has now shifted the other way.

A fertilizer retailer in central Illinois told me recently that 10 years ago, he didn't have a single acre with fertilizer applied as a sidedressing operation. Bob Spratt, manager of LeRoy Fertilizer Services of LeRoy, Illinois, now figures about 70% of his customers' acres see this trip.

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"The split application of applying fertilizer has completely changed how we apply nitrogen," he said. "The yield benefits are there, and so farmers have been willing to change how they apply nitrogen fertilizer."

Spratt also believes the move to sidedressing nitrogen has to do with farmers wanting to make sure nitrogen is used by the plants and not lost to the environment. There are several cases involving fertilizer runoff into the groundwater, but the case receiving the most attention currently is the Des Moines Water Works suing 10 rural drainage districts in and around the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers for elevated nitrate levels.

After attending many different fertilizer industry meetings over the years, I believe this is a pressing issue facing the industry. While farmers are generally efficient and careful not to over-apply fertilizer, more has to be done or many fear even more application regulations will come one day.

The move back to sidedressing has even made it back to my home area. This spring, especially, I have seen several farmers I know sidedress their crops, something I have never seen them do before.

Much like what Spratt saw with his customers, the move is picking up speed because it will produce higher yields and promote more efficiency. With lower commodity prices and still relatively high retail fertilizer prices, I wonder if this is why this spring more farmers are taking the plunge with sidedressing, hoping to maximize yields and become even more efficient?

I also wonder if the upgrade in sidedressing equipment is another reason farmers are willing to change how they apply fertilizer?

I wrote articles from various farm equipment shows in recent years about new fertilizer application equipment, and equipment manufacturers were quick to point out today's side-dressing equipment was NOTHING like the old equipment farmers of a certain age remember. Today's equipment features high-capacity carts with all-steer capabilities, liquid fertilizer coulters and, of course, precision technologies. These advancements can help farmers do faster and more efficient sidedressing applications.

Even if you are not one to buy the newest equipment and are handy in the shop, sidedressing could still be for you.

Go online and watch videos of farmers who turned old cultivator toolbars into simple, inexpensive sidedressing application equipment. By simply removing the cultivator arms and shovels and replacing them with a pump, knives or coulters, these folks created fairly simple sidedressing application equipment.

We have a couple old rear-mount cultivators in the trees. Maybe I've found next winter's shop project on our farm.

Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@dtn.com

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