Food Plot Question

2082 Views 23 Replies 9 Participants Last post by birdhunter33, Sep 27, 2019

birdhunter33

Discussion Starter · Sep 9, 2019

3

I was running late on the fall food plot this year but with the help of my brother and Dad we disk up 2-3 acres and broadcasted wheat and some brassicas.. I did not use fertilizer yet, as I was worried about the weeds taking over if i threw fertilizer down when I planted. I am planning on throwing some fertilizer down in a few weeks. Any ideas on that? As well what fertilizer to use for Wheat & Brassica I am tentatively planning to broad cast 46-0-0

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20'

· #2 · Sep 9, 2019

well done, hope it grows well! Not sure on the best fertilizer, but some here will know exactly what you need. I was going to get some 46-0-0 to add to my already fertilized crappy plot!

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birdhunter33

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 9, 2019

We saw the rain on the way so we hustled to get the seed in before the weekend rain

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swat1018

· #4 · Sep 9, 2019

It will definitely benefit from the nitrogen in the urea. Hard to tell if it needs anything else without a soil test.

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CuivreDog2

· #5 · Sep 9, 2019

If you want to use urea I would have applied it while you were discing to get maximum benefit. Urea volatilizes very quickly when applied and the benefits vanish into thin air unless it's incorporated into the soil or applied directly before a significant rainfall event.

Urea applied on the surface without significant rainfall that day is basically money wasted as all the nitrogen is released to the air.

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birdhunter33

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 10, 2019

Thanks guys

pinwheel

· #7 · Sep 10, 2019

CuivreDog2 said:
If you want to use urea I would have applied it while you were discing to get maximum benefit. Urea volatilizes very quickly when applied and the benefits vanish into thin air unless it's incorporated into the soil or applied directly before a significant rainfall event.

Urea applied on the surface without significant rainfall that day is basically money wasted as all the nitrogen is released to the air.

I'm sure one of the ag guys will be along shortly to clarify what I'm about to attempt to say. But it's my understanding that they're treating urea now so it doesn't evaporate like it used to. They explained it to me at the fertilizer plant last year, but I can't remember crap anymore, so I can't repeat as they told me.

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pinwheel

· #8 · Sep 10, 2019

birdhunter33 said:
I was running late on the fall food plot this year but with the help of my brother and Dad we disk up 2-3 acres and broadcasted wheat and some brassicas.. I did not use fertilizer yet, as I was worried about the weeds taking over if i threw fertilizer down when I planted. I am planning on throwing some fertilizer down in a few weeks. Any ideas on that? As well what fertilizer to use for Wheat & Brassica I am tentatively planning to broad cast 46-0-0

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Unless, you had a lot of actively growing grasses when you disced, I wouldn't worry too much about about the weeds this late in the season. Annual weeds won't grow fast enough to do that much harm to your new seed.

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Dafish

· #9 · Sep 10, 2019 (Edited)

.

henry

· #10 · Sep 10, 2019

I believe the Op picked the right fertilizer for the application N. As I understand it he will get some benefit from top dressing with urea. Incorporating is always better.

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rat

· #11 · Sep 10, 2019

In warmer humid temperatures, urea is quickly converted to ammonium and released to the atmosphere via volatility... thats why you do it ahead of a rain or knife it in.

UAN is half urea and half ammonium nitrate and is less volatile as a result. You can broadcast his prior to emergence but it will cause some phytotoxicity if plants are up and get contacted. Not like you will kill anything with it but it will provide some setback.

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birdhunter33

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 10, 2019

pardon my ignorance, should I broadcast the 46-0-0 or UAN once the wheat starts to grow? Or should i go ahead and do it this upcoming weekend? The seeds may have started to germinate but they're probably not up yet

rat

· #13 · Sep 10, 2019

I'd do it as soon as is possible

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20'

· #14 · Sep 10, 2019

rat said:
I'd do it as soon as is possible

with a rain, correct????

CuivreDog2

· #15 · Sep 10, 2019

pinwheel said:
I'm sure one of the ag guys will be along shortly to clarify what I'm about to attempt to say. But it's my understanding that they're treating urea now so it doesn't evaporate like it used to. They explained it to me at the fertilizer plant last year, but I can't remember crap anymore, so I can't repeat as they told me.

Yes - you can buy what is called encapsulated urea and it's quite pricey compared to standard urea. The issue is most folks tend to use urea to get maximum nitrogen credits at minimal cost. Regular urea works great for that if it's applied during tillage or right before a significant rain event.

If you take regular old run of the mill urea and broadcast it on a field during hot, humid conditions as we have today it will be volatilized into the air with minimal if any nitrogen credit to the soil by tomorrow.

Don't believe it? Do this test and see for yourself. Place a pound of urea on a damp paper plate and set it outside today. The paper plate represents slightly damp soil. Go back out 24 hours from now and reweigh your pound of urea. If there is any left at all, it will be CONSIDERABLY less than a pound. Did the nitrogen soak into the plate - a tad maybe?

The bulk of that nitrogen is now lost to the atmosphere never to be captured by the soil.

If I'm going to spend my money on nitrogen fertilizer to be broadcast after tillage you can bet it will be one of three conditions. (1) Common urea spread immediately before a significant rainfall event (2) Encapsulated urea and bite the bullet on price (3) a standard nitrogen fertilizer with much more stable properties that does not volatilize to the atmosphere.

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pinwheel

· #16 · Sep 10, 2019

CuivreDog2 said:
Yes - you can buy what is called encapsulated urea and it's quite pricey compared to standard urea. The issue is most folks tend to use urea to get maximum nitrogen credits at minimal cost. Regular urea works great for that if it's applied during tillage or right before a significant rain event.

If you take regular old run of the mill urea and broadcast it on a field during hot, humid conditions as we have today it will be volatilized into the air with minimal if any nitrogen credit to the soil by tomorrow.

Don't believe it? Do this test and see for yourself. Place a pound of urea on a damp paper plate and set it outside today. The paper plate represents slightly damp soil. Go back out 24 hours from now and reweigh your pound of urea. If there is any left at all, it will be CONSIDERABLY less than a pound. Did the nitrogen soak into the plate - a tad maybe?

The bulk of that nitrogen is now lost to the atmosphere never to be captured by the soil.

If I'm going to spend my money on nitrogen fertilizer to be broadcast after tillage you can bet it will be one of three conditions. (1) Common urea spread immediately before a significant rainfall event (2) Encapsulated urea and bite the bullet on price (3) a standard nitrogen fertilizer with much more stable properties that does not volatilize to the atmosphere.

Encapsulated is not what he called it, there was another name & the reason he mentioned it, was because I had him dump the mixed fert on my flat bed truck & said something along the lines of I'd keep it parked in the shed till I spread it so it wouldn't sweat & evaporate in the sun. That's when he told me it wasn't your standard urea & I didn't have to worry about it evaporating. Next time I'm over there, I'll ask him about it again so I can have a better answer.

CuivreDog2

· #17 · Sep 10, 2019

pinwheel said:
Encapsulated is not what he called it, there was another name & the reason he mentioned it, was because I had him dump the mixed fert on my flat bed truck & said something along the lines of I'd keep it parked in the shed till I spread it so it wouldn't sweat & evaporate in the sun. That's when he told me it wasn't your standard urea & I didn't have to worry about it evaporating. Next time I'm over there, I'll ask him about it again so I can have a better answer.

Hmmmm - that's a new one on me - let me know what you find out as I'm always looking for the next greatest fertilizer - as long as it's cheap like me!

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henry

· #18 · Sep 10, 2019

Here is a good article to give some perspective on what kind of losses to expect.

https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2009/may/nitrogen-losses-from-urea/

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CuivreDog2

· #19 · Sep 10, 2019

henry said:
Here is a good article to give some perspective on what kind of losses to expect.

https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2009/may/nitrogen-losses-from-urea/

Pretty much parrots exactly what I said huh?

40% loss under the conditions we have right now - wait for rain!!!!!!!!!!!!

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birdhunter33

Discussion Starter · #20 · Sep 10, 2019

henry said:
Here is a good article to give some perspective on what kind of losses to expect.

https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2009/may/nitrogen-losses-from-urea/

Good read thank you

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