Incoming Soybean Can Benefit From Crop Fall Fertilizer Application

By AgriNews|October 7, 2020

Farmers using a corn-soybean rotation have historically relied on residual fertility to fulfill the nutrient needs for the following season’s soybean crop, writes Michael Roth at AgriNews. Increased yield potential in corn has coincided with more soil nutrients being utilized and removed by that crop. Meanwhile, soybean yields have accelerated, making an investment in yield potential worthwhile.

For high soybean yield targets — greater than 85 bushels per acre, for example — soil testing can help determine if residual field fertility is adequate to support soybean yield expectations. But farmers planning for a high soybean yield target realize it might pay to apply fall fertilizer.

Operating at low soil test levels for nutrients like phosphorus and potassium may reduce yield potential for the next growing season. If soil tests show nutrient availability to be above the critical levels, applications are not necessary for the next crop. If fertilizer is needed, a fall application has some practical benefits.

Fall is an optimum application time to apply P and lime. To neutralize soil acidity, lime must dissolve in the soil. A fall application provides an ample opportunity before the next growing season.

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