Soil testing is a cost-effective, useful management tool to assess crop nutrient levels. So why wouldn’t you do it this fall?
“With the very high fertility prices that we’re dealing with right now, soil testing will give you the guidance you need to maximize your inputs where they’re needed,” says Christopher Bauer, Pioneer field agronomist.
He says knowing your soil profile can be beneficial to make decisions.
“Knowing the variability and things such as pH, potassium and phosphorus can provide information necessary to possibly go with a carriable rate application rather than a flat rate, if you’re set up to do such a thing,” says Bauer.
Once you have the information from the soil test, Bauer says now the focus needs to shift to maintenance.
“I would not recommend that you drastically cut back on your fertility to try to cut costs because that may lead to more problems,” he says. “At the very least, we want to make sure we’re staying above those critical levels for the different nutrients to maximize our yields. Significantly cutting back on nutrient applications next year could result in weaker plants, especially in fields where growers have seen relatively higher yields this year, so that’s going to result in higher nutrient removal than usual.”
Granular, Pioneer’s digital platform, can run variable rate prescriptions. If you’re interested, contact your local Pioneer sales rep.
