Starter fertilizer help!

notjustair

Well-known Member
I have always put on granular fertilizers/starters broadcast. I have decided this year to try a few Conklin products. I know that they are a little hyped, but getting nutrients right to the plant makes lots of sense. I also know there are many small trace nutrients that I am missing that would boost plant health and yield. It is time to move into the 21st century!

I bought tanks and row units for the 1760 no till planter. Here's my problem:

I am used to working in units. Conklin lists everything in GPA. Actually a range of GPA not a standard amount. They want you to have soil samples to tell you exact portions. I had my fields all tested last year but went ahead and added granular based on those tests. That I put on in units. I know what Midwest Labs recommended and I know what I put on. I need to know how to convert the range they give of GPA over to unit so I know how much liquid will really give me 3-18-18.

Has anyone dealt with this? It's about to give me a headache, and that's before I have even worked on the planter and added yet another monitor to the planter tractor.
 
Not sure on the Conklin products, but liquid fertilizers, I can figure your gallons per acre for you, I think.
 
I guess you'd have to find out how many pounds per gallon of their mixture before much figuring could commence. After that it should be back to your normal figuring of units.
 
I can tell you there are not many if any farmers around me are using Conklin products. I would call 75% of what they push/sell high priced snake oil.

Here is something to consider. Conklin's product cost per unit of actual ingredient is very high. So your not really saving anything using their product. You cut back on the total units applied but the fewer units cost you much more per unit. So you can apply more units of the regular product at the same price per acre.

I know of some fellows that tried Conklin's program. They soon found out they were just saving money the first few years when they where mining the nutrients out of the soil that were built up in earlier years.

Here is the long and short of it Dry granular fertilizer is the cheapest form of fertilizer out there. Liquid fertilizer is higher cost regardless where you buy it.

For good consistently high yields your going to need high fertility in the entire field not just along each row. With narrow rows and high populations there are NO yield advantages of banding fertilizer. Years of actual yield data proves this. The plants may look better in the short time after emergence but there is little if any yield gain at harvest.

Now for your question on rates. You need to know what you want to actually apply per acre in actual pounds/units per acre of each ingredient. Then you have to know what percentage per gallon the Conklin products have of each ingredient. Then you can figure the gallons per acre you need.

I also caution you to figure your TRUE cost per unit of active ingredient. Your plants do not care where the ingredient comes form as long as it is there when the plant needs it. Also do not fall for the old " Our nutrients are more readily adsorbed/available so you can use less of it per acre" BS!!!!!
 
After LOTS of searching the web I may have stumbled on something. As long as I have quantities and the specific gravity of the liquid I should be able to use this formula to convert it to dry matter quantities.

All of the people that think farming is easy should be drawn and quartered. Between the genetics and biology advancements in animals and the chemical understanding it takes to stay competitive with crops, you nearly have to be a rocket scientist to do this job! If you aren't and rely on a crop manager to figure everything out and then pay that person, I'm not sure how you would turn a profit. I'm just a lowly 1000 acre farmer (funny how that makes me small now days) so I am working to be able to do all of these jobs so I don't have to pay out to others for the figuring and planning. I knew this would be a mental stretch to learn this, but this jump can't be taken in steps. I just hope I am keeping careful enough notes to be able to do it next spring, too!
 
Find out the weight per US gallon, probably around 13 pounds, multiplied by say 5 gallons per acre gives 65 pounds of 3 18 18 or 3 percent N equals 1.95lbN, 18 percent P2O5 and K2O equals 11.7lb each per acre.....Ron
 
I would agree. There is no way I would abandon granular broadcast. I don't want to just apply what the plants need for that year as you are not building soil quality. I see cash renters mining the soil and then dumping it. The landlords can never understand why it takes so much input when that has been done. I can see using some of the micros, their starter, and Wex. Everything else (liquids) I am going to get through the Coop providing the numbers work and the products are equivalent.

I went to one of their two day conferences. There were a few things that I made mental notes to experiment with. I could see lots of salesmanship for lots of it. Having the liquid on the planter will be a nice test as I can turn row units on and off to run my own tests. I'm anxious to see how my own "test plots" do. That will sell me more than anything. For the money I already sunk in granular I will go in easy this year. A good test on beans and milo. I figure the money I spent putting liquid tanks on the planter increased the value a good amount so I am not upside down too far. I'm cautious, but I want to make sure I do the math right to be fair to the product. The days of running a manure spreader all winter and then pulling an anhydrous tank through the field as the only amendments are gone. The technology is there to do better.
 
I run soil test for trace elements every 3-4 years. I then apply as needed. I find I do not need very many other than regular sulfur.

All of my ground gets manure ,potash, and nitrogen every year. Every 3 years I apply 2 tons of lime per acre.

It seems to be working as I have a ten year rolling average of over 180 BPA.

The weather effects me more than fertility does.

As for liquid on your planter. I have seen the best results with actually applying the liquid fertilizer right in the seed trench. Many do that using different types of seed firmers to carry/apply the starter fertilizer.
 
I agree with "not using the Snake oil",,No one in my area uses it, and I know a lot of farmers,,you can not afford to loose a crop year trying some thing that is known not to be good. Most farmers in my area use 10-34-0 for liquid starter, about 16=18 gallons per acre, and it works very well, I like liquid, it's easy to store and to use, we went with it in 1980, and have had great results ever since,,you should seriously "re-think" what you are about to do...
 
JD has it right , well said.. Stay with what you were doing. Broadcast your fertilize and save your money.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top