Fall is a good time to apply dry phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers because of lower workloads, drier soils and greater fertilizer availability for the spring planted crop. This fall, in the face of higher fertilizer prices, many who apply fall fertilizer are trying to figure out how they can get the most bang for their buck out of that application, and some are even wondering if reducing their fertilizer rate makes sense in light of the current farm economics.

It's practical to fertilize this fall to meet the anticipated needs of next year's crop, taking into consideration local recommendations based on soil tests. Reducing fertilizer rates can potentially increase an existing problem, namely the limited availability of nutrients from applied fertilizer in the first season after application. Only about 10-30% of applied P and 20-60% of applied K is typically recovered, or used by the growing crop, in that first season.

To get the most utilization out of dry fertilizers, many farms turn to Titan XC as a tool to maximize fertilizer efficiency without requiring a big investment. This is important whether a full rate or reduced rate of fertilizer is applied.

Recent corn and soybean trials from the Bruce Research Farm at Hopkinsville, Kentucky highlight the opportunities for yield success with Titan XC on dry fertilizer.

In corn, a replicated trial demonstrated a yield increase of +9.5 bushels per acre when dry fertilizer (300# 9-23-30) was treated with Titan XC and compared to untreated dry fertilizer, with a calculated net return of $31.48 per acre. (The ROI calculation assumes corn at $4.05 per bushel.) 

Poultry manures and litters are an excellent source of crop nutrients—ones that can be more easily accessed by the crop when Extract PBA, which contains Accomplish nutrient release technology, is used. In the corn trials below, this biocatalyst technology maximized nutrient release from poultry manures so that more nutrients were available to the crop, leading to higher corn yields.  

In a trial conducted in Kentucky, Extract PBA was spread with UAN over turkey manure in the fall. Soil samples from the treated and untreated plots were taken in January, and showed an increase in the availability of many nutrients with the Extract PBA application. At harvest there was a 16.9 bu/acre corn yield increase where Extract PBA had been applied. 

Burndown season is here, and that offers growers a great opportunity to benefit from an application of Extract PBA on each acre. 

Below is a photo taken in early March from an ongoing wheat trial in Hardin, Kentucky. As you can see, the plant on the right–where Extract PBA was applied with a pre-emerge herbicide–is better positioned to realize top-end yield potential.

As the harvests come in this year, we’re seeing great yield performance with Titan PBA. Here are more results from some of this year’s trials on corn, wheat, soybeans and rice in Arkansas, Indiana and Kentucky.

Fall-Applied Titan PBA

Since both Accomplish LM and Titan PBA are based on the same biochemical technology, many growers who use these products ask which is the better one to use. Should they use Accomplish LM when they make one of their liquid applications? Or should they use Titan PBA when they make a dry fertilizer application? Does one give them a better “bang for their buck”?

Growers who use Accomplish LM in their starter programs see the benefits of improved early plant growth and increased yields at the end of the season.

The superior early performance of corn grown with Accomplish LM + RiseR is noticeable just 30 days after planting (Figure 1), with better plant growth and root development compared to a starter program without Accomplish LM.