By Jonathan Eisenthal
You might think once farmers get their crops planted, they can just kick back and watch ‘em grow. Or go fishing.
Most farmers might get a week or two off later in the summer, but right now it’s go-time: a series of unglamorous but essential chores must get done now. Fertilizing, spraying for weeds, (and a little later) scouting for diseases and then making one or two applications of fungicide. And of course, after planting is Rock Picking Season, according to Jeff Coulter, an Extension corn agronomist with the University of Minnesota.
June is also split fertilizer application season, Coulter said. “They’re going to do that in June. Right now is prime time for that.”
For farmers like Nick Peterson in Clear Lake, near St. Cloud, who farm in the Central Sands region of Minnesota, they must take a whole different approach to fertilizing because the coarse-textured soils are “only one or two heavy rain storms” away from losing any nutrients placed in the soil ahead of time. Instead, Peterson splits the application of his fertilizer. A good portion goes on in spring around planting time, but then he “spoon feeds” the rest over the course of weeks, using either a Y-applicator that dribbles fertilizer along the row, applying ammonia underground between the rows, or pumping it on with irrigation water. Peterson also applies ATS, a form of nitrogen fertilizer that includes sulfur, which helps the nitrogen uptake in the plants, stabilizes the nitrogen to prevent leaching and is itself an important nutrient. The ATS is delivered through the irrigation system they will use to keep the crop watered in the hot summer weeks. Applying fertilizer through the irrigation system is called “fertigation,” and is diluted down to less than 1/10,0000th of the irrigation water. Irrigation makes Petersons a member of a minority of farmers in Minnesota. Most farmers across the state depend on rain alone to water their crops.
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