Anhydrous Ammonia

Did a custom job for a friend a few weeks ago, couldnt help but think of my grandfather saying how he used to custom sidedress with an A john deere years ago. Maybe thats why he hated that stuff so much! Does anyone sidedress anhyd these days?

Nope. I usually do it in the summer. :lol:

I was waiting for someone to say that Dalet!

Yes I side dress all of mine now. For many years I fall applied half of mine and side dressed the other half because I did not think I would have time to cover all my corn acres with side dress but I see that I can find the time to side dress it all. I really can only think of one other guy in about a ten mile radius of me that side dresses. I own my own applicator so that makes it a little more doable for me.

Used to do a lot of custom sidedressing anhydous. Quit about 15 years ago. Not much done anymore around here. Made good money back then tho.

What does it do,act as a fertilizer?

Every year. Lot of it done around here.

Yes, Anhydrous is pretty much pure N so the corn goes crazy. I have noticed some plants jump rows when it gets put on behind the tractor. Its the outside rows you have to worry about. 8)

I had a field that was planted in 30" rows mess themselves up so bad I had to use a beanhead to combine the field. Best corn I ever had, but the sickle would only last a round or two.

NH3 (anhydrous amonia) is a gas out in the open, compresses to a liquid in the big white tanks - similar to LP gas that was, both a lquid and a gas as we use it - and is a nitrogen fertilier, very concentrated.

The good thing is it's just nitrogen gas, like most of our air is, nothing much to it.

The bad part is, when concentrated like that, it is starved for water, and will seek out water very badly. It will burn your skin, eyes, lungs if you get into it when it is a freshly released cloud. Dangerous at that point, very dangerous. Once it mixes with the air and finds enough water, then it reverts to being a totally harmless portion of the air.....

Cheapest form of N there is, corn and other grasses need alot of N for good growth and yield. It's common to put near 200 lbs of N on good corn ground.

I've done a fair amount of sidedressing with it, like to put it on in spring before planting, last 2 years I had the coop put on granular in spring with the P & K.

I think getting some N on before or with the planter, and putting most of the N on as sidedressing NH3 is the most cost effective, but - time and money, one makes compromises.

--->Paul

I have always side dressed all my corn, but now that I own my own applicator, I apply half my corn acres preplant, the other half side dressed.
(1200 acres)

Very little done around here anymore, was a time when sidedressing was the norm. We quit and went all preplant. A 90ft. boom at 15mph and lay down some herbicide with 28% N at the same time. We grew a lot of coloured beans which we planted in early June and often started cutting hay in mid June so we would run out of operators to run everything. In the 60's BIL did custom side dressing...one year they went over 3000 acres with a 4020 and a 5 tooth applicator. Thats a lot of driving.

I haven't side dressed in several years. I try to get it down preplant.