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Left over nutrients a possible drought silver lining

The senior agronomist for Nutrien suggests there could be a silver lining for areas that suffered from drought in 2024.

Mike Howell tells Brownfield.

“There were some areas that were hit by drought pretty hard this year, if you were in a drought-prone area and didn’t get the yield you were expecting you could have a good bit of nutrients left over.”

He recommends a soil test to get a baseline for the growing season.

“To make sure what’s out there. If you did pull a record yield off, you’re going to be taking more nutrients out of the soil than you normally would. So it all goes back to the soil test and making sure we know what’s out there.”

And Howell cautions growers considering further cutbacks to phosphorous and potassium because of tight margins.

“And if you’ve built up (P&K) in the soil over the past years, you probably got away with that (and) everything is good. But it’s just like your checking account, if you keep taking money out and never make a deposit, you’re going to overdraw that account.”

Brownfield spoke to Howell at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention in November.

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