A Stewardship "Checkoff" Check those practices that could help your farmer-customer become better stewards of their land. Some of the following practices apply to run-off while others are intended to manage groundwater contamination. The apparent lack of a clearly stated standard definition could be one stumbling block to wide-spread BMP acceptance. "BMPs simply refer to individual inputs or operations carried out in the fashion indicated as most efficient and environmentally sound by scientific research," that's how Dr. Albert E. Lud-Adjust sprinkler irrigation rates to wick, of the Potash & Phosphate Institute recently defined the term. Level to grade to minimize surface run-off while maximizing water infiltration. maximize water penetration and minimize run-off. Adjust basin size and irrigation application rates to the infiltration capacities of specific on-farm soil conditions. Divert and confine water from irrigated cropland into sumps equipped with pumpback capabilities. Install drip irrigation systems to precisely apply water and fertilizer and avoid run-off and leaching. Use irrigation flow measuring devices. Schedule irrigation applications as determined by soil moisture content, weather information and crop appearance. Rip soils during land preparation to increase infiltration and reduce run-off on compacted soils. Apply furrow irrigations by surge flow or pulse irrigation to decrease run-off and reduce soil loss from the field. Use split application techniques to increase the efficiency of fertilizer utilization and reduce losses due to leaching and run-off. Incorporate fertilizers after application either mechanically or by irrigating to reduce nutrient losses associated with run-off. Equip fertilizer nurse rig transfer ᄆ hoses with valves to prevent spillage resulting from drainage. Apply animal or other wastes to croplands based on nutrient and metal analysis to fully understand the total analysis and contribution of the material to the supply of essential plant nutrients. Line irrigation ditches with cement or plastic to increase efficiency and reduce losses due to seepage. Upgrade well design to decrease potential contamination by cascading flows. Equip irrigation systems with appropriate antisiphon check valves to protect against chemical backflow. Manage soil pH to avoid extremes in soil reaction. Test irrigation water for inherent nutrient concentration. Sample and analyze soils for residual nutrient concentrations. Sample and analyze plant tissues for nutrient concentrations before applying inseason and sidedress fertilizers. Program fertilizer applications to coincide with intervals of maximum crop nutrient uptake. Calibrate all application equipment. Use deep rooted crops in cropping sequences or rotations to utilize residual nutrients leached below shallow rooted crops. Keep an inventory or account of nutrients applied to each field. When Banding Is - And Isn't- The Best Way here are many ways to apply placement, pop-up, dribble, knifed-in- and many forms of tillage. Add to this a great many crops to fertilize and a great many climate areas in the country, and a local dealer or applicator has a difficult time making a specific recommendation. This article will not be able to give you specific recommendations for your area, but it will attempt to give you some guidelines that are based on research from a large number of universities across the nation. The basic premise is simple: Plants need an adequate supply of nutrients in the root zone throughout the growing season. To satisfy this premise, you need to answer three basic questions: What is an adequate supply of nutrients? Where is the rooting zone? How much fertilizer is needed in each part of the growing season? An Analogy Before dealing specifically with those questions, the following analogy may better help you understand some of the concepts. If you needed to pick up a million dollar bills in a relatively short period of time, and you had a large number of people to help, you would be able to gather those bills quickly, even if they were scattered across a fairly large area. If you are working alone or have only a couple by Robert Wayne of helpers, or if for any reason you have There is one further wrinkle: When Real World Now think of those dollar bills as plant nutrients, and you and your helpers as plant roots. If the root system is extensive, it can pick up the nutrients even if they are widely scattered. Though, if the root system is small, the nutrients had better be concentrated into a band near the roots, unless the overall fertility of the soil is high. Even if the fertility is high, soil compaction or cool spring temperatures can stunt or slow root growth, again giving an advantage to nutrients concentrated into a band. And, of course, when nutrients are scattered widely, there is more of a chance that they can become fixed to soil particles and, therefore, unavailable to the crop. When concentrated in a band, more nutrients will be available to the crop, even if some of them are fixed to soil particles, just as the bills were in the center of the piles. Broadcasting Still Acceptable Broadcasting was easy with conventional tillage. You spread the fertilizer on the soil surface, then plowed it down. Some will tell you that there is no longer any place for this form of application now that reduced tillage id no-till have come into the picture. Dr. Gary Hergert, University of Nebraska soil scientist, would not completely agree. If the soils are high in fertility, broadcast applications can often be a good idea if time and labor are limited, he claims. Broadcasting without subsequent tillage will concentrate relatively immobile nutrients, such as phosphorus and potassium, in the top 4 inches of soil. Is this outside the root zone and, therefore, a waste of these nutrients? Not necessarily, according to some research. Soils with reduced tillage have a mulch on the surface. This mulch keeps the soil just below the surface moist and encourages root growth there. Dr. Robert G. Hoeft and Dr. Gyles W. Randall at the universities of Illinois and Minnesota, respectively, say the roots in this shallow area can often absorb all the phosphorus and potassium they need for optimum crop growth and yield. This situation would not be true for arid climates, of course, or in those situations where there is not enough mulch to keep the soil moist at these shallow depths. Soil that is dry on top will force crop roots to grow deep in search of moisture. If the nutrients are near the MAY/JUNE 1986 FERTILIZER PROGRESS 37 surface, however, those roots will never be able to pl. them up. Band Application Advantages All the forms of fertilizer application listed in the first sentence of this article (except broadcast) are basically forms of band application. Whether this band is on the surface, with the seed, 2 inches to the side and 2 inches below the seed, or at some other location, it is still a band. The analogy of the dollar bills hints at some of the advantages of banding. Banding places the nutrients near the • roots, concentrates the nutrients so they are less likely to be tied up by the soil or lost in some other way, and makes more nutrients available to a small root sys tem. Banding has disadvantages, also. Banding is more costly than broadcast application and takes more time, labor and fuel energy. In many cases, these added costs are more than compensated for by the added crop yield. "Banding has definite yield advantages," says Dr. Joe Touchton, Auburn University soil scientist. "As people move toward no-till, the need for banding increases. There are definite yield advantages in our part of the nation." He further explains that no-till soils in his area tend to be more compact, restricting root growth. Banding offers similar advantages farther north, also. Soils covered by a mulch tend to warm more slowly in the spring. These cool soils cause roots to grow more slowly, making them less able to Times when banding is likely to help, or not help, yields absorb as many nutrients. Even if the soil tests show adequate fertility levels, banding sometimes increases yields. What is true for the North has not necessarily been true elsewhere; banding does not always show a yield response when soil fertility levels are high. Nonetheless, Dr. Gary W. Colliver, Farmland RECOMMENDATION Little advantage to banding Banding below surface can help even if soil fertility is high Banding below surface puts product in the small root zone Inject into soil in a band Banding concentrates product, keeping some of it available Inject to put it near crop roots Broadcast application preferred; usually does not respond to banding Response to banding depends on soil fertility. Banding not likely to increase yields on soils that test medium to high. A 2 x 2 starter will help if soil test levels are low. If precipitation is below normal, banding can outperform broadcast. Yield responses to banding limited when soil fertility is high. Row and deep banding generally outperform broadcast applications at other fertility levels. Industries' chief agronomist, says, "When fertilizer is banded, the probability of response is higher at all fertility levels." Fertilizer Types and Forms Spreading fertilizer is not the same as spreading dollar bills. One area where the analogy breaks down is when the product touches the soil. The only thing that can happen to dollar bills is that they might get wet or dirty. Much can happen to fertilizers, depending on which nutrients they contain and the form in which they are applied. Nitrogen fertilizers might be lost into the atmosphere through volatilization or denitrification. They also might move through the soil to the plant roots, then keep moving below the root zone and wash away in groundwater, or be converted in the soil into forms that are unavailable to the crop. Phosphorus and potassium are less mobile in the soil. In addition, they can also get tied up in the soil so they are unavailable to the crop. If the nutrients are tied up by the soil, and the soil is eroded away, they can be lost from the crop forever. Even this quick summary hints that the place, time and method of application can make a difference in crop uptake of nutrients. INDIANA RURAL ORGANIZING 3951 N. MERIDIAN, INDIANAPOLIS. IN 46208 317-921-1120 PROJECT Before the House Agriculture Sub-Committee on Wheat, Columbia City, Indiana August 8, 1989 I want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today. I am Francis Bradley, a lifetime family farmer from Daviess County, Indiana. It has been my privilage to farm the same land as my father, grandfather, and great grandfather. The land originally came into our family in the 1850's. Our farm is truly a family farm as my son and grandsons are joining in the farm operation. My opportunity to care for this land through my lifetime has afforded great personal satisfaction to me and it is my intention that this farm will continue as a family farm. Webster Craig of Economy, Indiana, also a family farmer, and I are co-chairs of the Indiana Rural Organizing Project. This INDIANA RURAL ORGANIZING PROJECT 3951 N. MERIDIAN, INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46208 317-921-1120 Presently we are being advised of the great and urgent need for government funding for the re-development of our rural communities. It would be wise to remember that much of the need for this rural redevelopment has accompanied the demise and liquidation of the family farms in the rural communities. It is also somewhat ironic that at the same time our government farm assistance, through the commodity programs, has been directed toward larger and larger farming units, the Soviet Union is endeavoring to bring their family farmers back to their farms. Any effective program of economic development of rural communities must begin by providing for the continuation of the family farm. Commodity supports, deficiency payments and lower commodity market prices simply do not produce the desired result of sustaining family farms. Present programs have been a "bonanza" for the families who "farm" the people who do the farming, but they are at best an indirect approach to the most basic farm problems: 1. The inability to service debt. 2. The recapitalization of farm investments. Government programs must recognize the different situations of the people who are engaged in production agriculture. The deficiency payments and the mandatory production of the 1985 Farm Bill completely negate the effect of supply and demand in the market price and assure continued market prices below the cost of production. The world price for grain is always slightly less than the U.S. price and it is the "Merchants of Grain" who would have us believe that our prices must be lower and lower to |