Maximizing your fertility plan is not all that complicated. All you have to do is focus on some basic principles, and you can reduce the amount of fertilizer you use and grow better crops, whether it's in your garden or fields.
Here are four things you can do today to make your fertility program more effective-
1. Irrigation
Have a plan and design that works for the scale you grow at. Most growers I work with wish they had designed their irrigation first and beds or fields second.
2. pH Management
Regardless of the size, you grow at, and this can make or break your whole fertility plan making it ineffective if you're not paying attention to it. You would be better off not using fertilizer at all until you get pH managed first.
3. Use best management practices (BMP's) that work for your management style and farming system. Examples of BMP's are:
Mowing/grazing regularly
Reducing compaction
Keeping walkways, beds, and fields clear of debris
Disposing of infected debris appropriately
Harvesting in a timely fashion
Focus on 1 & 2
The list goes on & on
4. Not only get a soil test but invest in understanding what it means for your soil, crop choices, and your management style. Look beyond the graphs and pay attention to the numbers.
Effective and efficient fertility plans start before you even buy fertilizer or put a plant in the ground.
The Friday February 21st Edition of Talking Dirty with The Accidental Agronomist-
I've seen several posts on social media recommending growers get soil tests and even quoting prices.
I'm going to be brutally honest-
I understand farmers and growers want to help others in their industry achieve the level of success they have, but it is disheartening to hear them give half or even misinformation. Frankly, it makes me question their motives. Do you want to help, or do you want the attention? I struggle with this every day too. Even as a professional in the industry, using social media is still very uncomfortable, I feel I walk a fine line between helping and distracting most days.
With the unprofessional rant out of the way, this is my professional option on soil testing.
1. Be consistent with the time of year you are testing. You get a more accurate view of long-term soil fertility because soil temperature plays a vital role in nutrient availability. I prefer growers test in the fall to be able to establish amending and fertility plans. You amend soil and feed plants. I write about this in week 5 0f the 52 Weeks of Agronomy
https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/1/21/ag-101-week-5
2. Use a lab within a relative distance of your farm. They will understand the type of soils you are working with better than a lab thousands of miles away will. I list a few of the labs I work with on the resources page of the website.
3. Be consistent with the lab you use to stay consistent with extraction methods. Nutrients respond differently to different extractions methods.
4. The most important of all - Get all the information you need! I can't stress this enough. It would be like going to the doctor and only getting half or some of the tests they needed to make an accurate diagnosis. It's a waste of time and money. If you are getting a $9 soil test, you are not getting all the information you or an agronomist needs to make a sound fertility plan. Soil testing has nothing to do with price; it has everything to do with quality and the right information. I talk about this in Week 24 of the 52 Weeks of Agronomy
https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/6/11/ag-101-week-24
Production growers, one growing for profit, need to focus on soil fertility more than soil health. I talk about this in Week 2 here
https://www.theaccidentalagronomist.com/news/2018/1/5/ag-101-week-2
Being a production grower is taking the concept of soil health to the next level and focusing on a sound soil fertility program that is environmentally effective and cost-efficient.