You’ve seen it happen in your own fields. Those few weeks in midsummer when you can almost hear the corn grow.
What can you do to help boost yield potential as your crop surges in growth? While it reaches for the sky and sets the stage for a bountiful harvest, you can help improve its nutrient uptake.
Fueling Your Crop
During this rapid growth stage (from V6 to R3), your corn plant is a nutrient fiend, using up to 60% of available resources to prepare for pollination and cob formation.
In this crucial growth period, your crop needs the right fuel to achieve peak performance. That fuel comes in the form of essential nutrients:
Macronutrients
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (potash) are the heavy hitters, providing the building blocks for strong stalks, healthy leaves, and ultimately, those prized cobs.
Micronutrients and Sulfur
Don’t underestimate the power of these supporting players! They play crucial roles in plant health, protein production, and stress tolerance—all essential for a successful Corn Sprint.
Think of it as a marathon runner needing the right fuel to power through the race. Just like an athlete, your corn needs a balanced diet of nutrients readily available to them.
Unlocking Nutrient Power
Nutrients are most effective when they’re actually absorbed efficiently within the right window of time. It’s not just about having enough nutrients—they need to be readily available for your corn to absorb. By incorporating biologicals into your fertilizer program, you can improve nutrient uptake and utilization throughout the season, while providing the right availability during the crucial Corn Sprint timeframe.
Tips to Maximize Nutrient Use Efficiency:
• Start strong: A well-nourished crop from the very beginning sets the stage for success during the rapid growth phase.
• Focus on power players: Make sure your corn has access to abundant nitrogen, potash (potassium), and sulfur during this critical stage.
• Test your soil: Regularly testing your soil will give you valuable insights into its nutrient content and potential deficiencies.
• Employ targeted Fertilization: Based on your soil test results, you can tailor your fertilizer applications to provide your corn with the specific nutrients it needs.
• Include biologicals: Adding beneficial microbes to your fertilizer mix can help improve nutrient availability and uptake by your corn plants.
• Think long term: While the Corn Sprint is crucial, remember that your corn needs a steady supply of nutrients throughout the entire season, not just during this growth spurt.
Boosting Your Fertilizer Investment
Mosaic understands the science behind crop nutrition. Through years of research, they’ve developed the Mosaic Biosciences™ portfolio of nutrient use enhancement technologies. These products help unlock the power of soil microbes, promoting a symbiotic relationship that makes nutrients more readily available for your corn to absorb.
Mosaic products BioPath® and PowerCoat™ work with fertilizer to increase nutrient availability, uptake and utilization and improve early-season plant growth and vigor, optimizing yield potential in crops. And they’re easy to apply—BioPath can be tank mixed and PowerCoat can be added as a convenient coating to granular fertilizer.
Adding a Mosaic Biosciences product to your program, can help you:
• Increase fertilizer efficiency
• Maximize your return on investment
By understanding the nutritional demands of your corn crop during the Corn Sprint and implementing strategies to promote nutrient use efficiency, you can ensure your corn has the fuel it needs to thrive. This translates to a higher yield potential and a more profitable harvest.
Contact us today to learn more about maximizing nutrient availability and optimizing your corn crop’s performance during the Corn Sprint.