Getting P and K below ground in no-till

We hobby farm row crop as an opportunity to use our antique equipment in the field. We only crop around 20 acres. It is 100 percent no-till due to the risk of erosion. It is our desire to be good stewards of the land, in that we replace what we remove.

We made some incredible soybeans this year but I realize that good yields will be short lived after available nutrients are mined from the soil.

Does anyone have a system that will work on a small scale for the application of P and K under the soil surface? I'd love to place my nutrients 4" under the surface but have no experience in doing so.

We often piece equipment together. We have a few old toolbars lying around if I only knew what sort of tool I should bolt on..

I'm limited to only 90 HP tractors. We use two 4020 John Deeres so I'm somewhat limited on drawbar and rockshaft capacity. Our planter is a 4 row 30 inch no-till so a 10 ft swath width might work out best.

We do have wheat in the rotation so applying P/K in 7.5" spacings might be ideal to more evenly distribute the nutrients.

I've pondered disk coulters with the associated knife to apply liquid. With a little modification it could be made to sidedress corn on 30" spacings for late N application. Any thoughts or examples?

I have been no-tilling for over thirty years, and other than an occasional disking, we just cut off trash with a rotary mower and spin most of our nutrients- N,P,&K- on with a spreader, and the remainder as liquid. It took a while for the no til to really show it's advantages, but I haven't hitched up a plow in some twenty years or more. We don't even work manure in more than a disking.

I put all of my P and K down with my corn planter. No-till operation. Like you I primarily replace what a corn/bean rotation will use, although I have applied up to 300 pounds of dry fertilizer per acre with the corn planter with no "salting" effect on corn germination. Days past it was called starter fertilizer placed in a 2 by 2. 2 inches to the side and 2 inches down. I am probably more like 3-4 inches by 5 inches. The factory John Deere fertilizer coulters are not quite as good as Yetters and others which are sold for deeper placement. Mine are another brand - can't remember the company. My current fertilizer coulters are a single blade set at an angle to allow the fertilizer tubes to drop the fertilizer behind. The cut made by the coulter closes right back up and doesn't wash. Generally use 11-52-0 and 0-0-60 mixed 50/50. Probably use 150 - 200 pounds of the mix per acre. I have been adding a little gypsum for sulfur and calcium as well. Get a little early season boost from the N also. I have seen tons of this type of equipment at salvage yards specializing in planters/tillage equipment. Kalsem Equipment/Salvage at Waterloo has a bunch of this stuff. Another guy I met who was sending John Deere planters to Mexico was stripping all of the equipment off and only sending the actual planters to Mexico. Another reason alot of this fertilizer equipment is available is that the big farmers do not want to monkey with fertilizer while planting - they just want to plant. Looks like the corn is making 180 bu/acre this year and beans will be in the 50's, so this method can produce good yields. According to research you can reduce the fertilizer by 50% from your soil test requirements if banded. Banded fertilizer does not get "attached" to the soil particles and therefore become unavailable to the plant. I participate in the NRCS Conservation Enhancement Program and I am required to fertilize no more than 30 days prior to planting and the fertilizer must be applied at least 2 inches below the soil, so this works good for me.

We no till, broadcast P&K, then apply liquid N with the herbicides in the spring. I really like the liquid N, it seems to absorb well. You will want to time your applications around rainfall for best results.