DF

Those are probably some of the most debatable subjects there are re. forms of N & applicaton timing. It seems very hard to find concrete answers to his statements. He could make them & probably find some study support, or also be challenged by some other study support. Though, most would agree, I think, that if you apply NH3 too early in the fall & soil temps either stay or move higher, you will probably lose much/some of the N before the plant needs it the following year. The "how much" you lose is probably most debatable....and whether N-Serve works or to what degree @ what rate is also debatable....along with why N-Serve costs so much.

Re. coulters...that is probably a locale thing also. There is NO such thing in NE IL as an NH3 bar that does not contain:

Opening (cutting?) coulters

Applicator knives (most often mole knife these days)

covering attachments (usually a form of a rolling coulter or coned disk blade)

Re. depth....I'm guessing application depth may be harder to control than one might guess. You often encounter wheel tracks or other soil variations & some knives might ride up higher than others. I guess we usually shoot for 6-8" depth for sidedress, but I wouldn't guarantee it 100% of time. You can see our coulter-knife-covering blades below: