We often focus on Accomplish LM in corn, soybean or wheat crops, but the benefits of Accomplish LM technology also extend to specialty crops like potatoes. A recent side by side comparison from a 2019 potato trial in Grafton, North Dakota shows earlier potato emergence and more robust plants when Accomplish LM has been added to the grower's standard potato fertilizer program. In this trial, Accomplish LM was applied at planting with 10-34-0, placed below the seed in a band.

By Steve Sexton & Brian Cornelious, PhD, Agricen

One of the pillars of the 4R approach to plant nutrition is applying fertilizer in the “Right Place.” This concept has opened the door for researchers and producers alike to examine practices that place small quantities of nutrients in a concentrated zone close to the point of seed placement. The use of starter fertilizer, which is aimed at getting plant nutrients in the “right place,” is becoming a common practice in some parts of the country. Here we look at starter fertilizer programs for corn from a nutrient efficiency perspective.

A standard starter program in the U.S. Corn Belt is 5 gallons of ammonium polyphosphate (APP; 10-34-0) plus 1 quart of zinc. 10-34-0 is a common polyphosphate fertilizer that must be converted into a plant-available form, called orthophosphate, prior to plant uptake and utilization. In fact, most starter fertilizers are primarily composed of the polyphosphate form of phosphorus.

As we have previously shown, Accomplish LM can be used to help release and mineralize nutrients in high residue fields. Given the high potassium levels in corn stover and the high potassium demand for a soybean crop, this is a perfect situation for using a residue application of Accomplish LM to improve plant performance (Figures 1-3) and gain a yield advantage in the coming soybean crop (Figure 4).