As growers look ahead to the next growing season, they’re undoubtedly setting their yield goals and considering alternatives to enhance their profitability. And with crop nutrition accounting for up to 60% of yields, fertility planning may be one of the most influential factors in whether growers hit their yield goals or not. As you work with your growers to build their crop nutrition plans for the upcoming season, there are several considerations that are important to keep in mind.
Start with yield goals
Every fertility plan should start with a clear yield target. Whether your growers are aiming to maintain, push or break new yield records, their crop nutrition plan must match that goal. Once yield goals are established, soil tests and nutrient removal rates provide the foundation for building an effective fertility strategy.
Sit down with your growers to review their harvest data and soil test results. Encourage growers to use a nutrient removal calculator to estimate how much of each nutrient was removed from the soil this past year and determine what will need to be applied in order to achieve their yield goals in the upcoming season. This data-driven approach helps ensure fertility plans replace what’s been taken out, keeping soils productive year after year.
Ensure balanced crop nutrition
In addition to providing the crop with the right nutrients, it is also vital to ensure that the nutrients are supplied in the right balance. Nutrients interact in complex ways, as illustrated by Mulder’s Chart, where an excess or deficiency of one nutrient can affect the uptake of another.
The Law of the Minimum reinforces this point: a crop can only perform as well as its most limiting nutrient. Even if all other nutrients are sufficient, just one nutrient deficiency can hold crops back from their full yield potential.
Using soil test results in combination with nutrient removal data helps retailers and growers identify and correct imbalances before planting, setting crops up for more uniform growth and higher productivity.
Follow the 4Rs
Following the 4Rs Nutrient Stewardship framework, applying the right source at the right rate, right time and right place, ensures nutrients are available when and where the crop needs them.
Enhanced efficiency fertilizers, like MicroEssentials®, support the 4R principles by delivering key nutrients in a form that promotes season-long availability and reduces nutrient loss to the environment. Thanks to The Mosaic Company’s Fusion® Technology, each granule contains a uniform blend of nutrients, helping every plant access balanced nutrition for consistent growth and yield potential.
Increase nutrient use efficiency
Nutrient use efficiency refers to the availability of nutrients in the soil, as well as the amount of nutrient uptake and nutrient utilization by the plant. When nutrients remain bound in the soil and are inaccessible to plants, growers are unable to realize the full potential of their fertilizer investment. Therefore, focusing on improving nutrient use efficiency for crops, especially at the start of the growing season and during key growth periods, can improve season-long plant growth and vigor for optimal yield and quality.
Bio Crop Nutrition products like BioPath® and PowerCoat® from Mosaic activate the connection between microbes and nutrients in the soil for greater nutrient use efficiency. By adding a Bio Crop Nutrition product to fertilizer applications, growers can improve nutrient uptake, promote growth and unlock nutrients already in the soil.
Maximize return on fertilizer investment
With fertilizer being one of the most significant input costs, maximizing return on fertilizer investment (ROFI) is essential. Retailers can help growers capture more yield potential and profitability by recommending a combination of balanced, performance fertilizer products and Bio Crop Nutrition products that boost nutrient availability, uptake and utilization.
When nutrients are applied efficiently and crops are fed in balance, every dollar spent on fertilizer works harder. The result: healthier soils, stronger crops and higher yields that help your customers reach their goals season after season.
To learn more about how Mosaic performance fertilizers like MicroEssentials and Bio Crop Nutrition products like BioPath and PowerCoat can help your growers meet their yield goals and strengthen their return on fertilizer investment in the upcoming growing season, contact your sales rep.
