Stay rooted in the fundamentals of crop fertility by following the “3Ds” of micronutrient management.
Working closely with your advisers on basic fertility needs is a tried-and-true strategy that Dr. Ross Bender, Director of New Product Development for The Mosaic Company, stresses. He suggests starting a crop plan by focusing on the fundamentals: getting a handle on pH, ensuring macronutrients are under control and maximizing the value of micronutrients.
“It’s never too late to put together a solid crop plan,” Dr. Bender said. “Maximizing yield as a way to improve your return on investment becomes imperative in a tight margin cycle.”
Dr. Bender recommends adhering to the 3Ds of micronutrient management:
- Distribution: “Every plant needs a little bit,” he noted. “Solving the distribution flaw in the micronutrient system will be imperative to improve the response to any micronutrient.”
- Duration of availability: “Higher yields produce more biomass, especially later in the growing season, and that changes nutrient uptake,” Dr. Bender explained. “As a result, plants take up micronutrients faster and for longer than ever before. Season-long availability is critical.”
- Daily uptake needs: He added, “The higher yields we are achieving have increased the daily requirements, so we should be mindful to provide the right amount to hungry plant roots.”
Putting the 3Ds into practice as part of your crop nutrition strategy can help maximize the likelihood of a response to a micronutrient application.
With high-yielding hybrids and varieties changing the nutrient needs of plants and more biomass being produced in the process, more nutrients need to be accumulated and the time period to take up those nutrients is extended.
“Two micronutrients commonly receiving the most attention are boron and zinc, and we can consistently demonstrate a yield response to applications of those two by following the 3Ds,” Dr. Bender said.
The Mosaic Company’s MicroEssentials® and Aspire® products help address those needs.
Aspire combines two forms of boron with potassium into one granule for season-long availability and has shown field trial successes like a 2- to 3-bu/acre increase in soybeans and 5- to 8-bu/acre response in corn, when compared to traditional potash.
Further, MicroEssentials fertilizer features nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S) and zinc (Zn) fused into a nutritionally balanced granule.
“In North America, we are selling more MicroEssentials than MAP or DAP,” Dr. Bender asserted. “MicroEssentials provides a new way to manage micros, including sulfur. It has multiple forms of sulfur to ensure season-long availability. MicroEssentials also solves the distribution issue with a little zinc in every granule.”
Take into account the 3Ds of micronutrient management when working with your retail partner to build out crop nutrition plans that maximize yield.
Article derived from Maximize The Likelihood For A Micronutrient Yield Response, originally on AgProfessional.com.
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