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Elk Water Twp, MN | Nothing besides some new things to start testing on a limited scale such as applying foliars when the corn is small. Still trying to figure out what to side dress with into the soil between the rows during the aforementioned foliar application pass as have ability to simultaneously do both.
With high OM, CECs, and nutrient tie-up in the soil, historical year to year success has largely been driven by variations and timing of soil moisture and weather conditions, not applied fertilizer for that year's crop or what the soil test says it needs.
One data point from a few years ago still scratching head over is a 20+ acre contiguous portion of one field raised 350+ bushel corn with applied fertilizer for 200. Nothing special of a soil for around here and per lab tests, one of my worst for fertility. Where did the other nutrients, especially N, the corn supposedly needs per university crop removal guidelines, come from during that five month growing season window? Makes one question if the the use of anything from commercial fertilizer to magic juices really have ROI. Between the results of this past fall's soil tests, analyzing historical applied versus grain removal over the years, and variable unpredictable mineralization of the coming season, questioning the fertility equation more and more.
The more one learns on this soil health journey, the more one realizes the collective we don't know what we don't know. We've always done it that way is difficult to overcome and will take concerted effort to change. Some are on a striptill, cover crop, and/or notill journey thinking they are on the right path and the rest of us are OM destroying heathens. They may be on the right track for their geography and soil. No, not giving up tillage, it's the secret sauce for this part of the world until proven otherwise and will be doing even more in 2025. bUt YoU'rE bUrNiNg Up OM everytime steel is placed below the soil surface isn't what the trend data says here and have a developing hypothesis about that. Again, for here.
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