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Be careful with fertilizer cutbacks
A crop nutrition lead at The Mosaic Company says the current state of the ag economy has many growers considering cutbacks on fertilizer applications.
Tryston Beyrer says making too many cuts could have longer-term impacts.
“Fertility is a large portion of the budget,” he says. “Often times it’s 20% of our budget, but it can account for up to 60% of our yield. If we do start making cuts there, we know that yield can potentially be sacrificed and we don’t want to give up bushels.”
He tells Brownfield farmers need to evaluate where there are nutrient deficiencies.
“Looking at your P and K soil test, if you have build up in the higher to very high categories, maybe you can draw those down,” he says. “We could use things like variable rate technology or spreaders to reallocate some of those dollars to up the fields that are low.”
Beyrer says maintaining proper soil fertility will help farmers increase profitability during the upcoming growing season.
AUDIO: Tryston Beyrer, The Mosaic Company
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