Don't Forget Micronutrients

Most areas are well into harvest, and many farmers are starting to think about fall fertilizer. Many areas in our trade territory are experiencing above average yields, and we must feed our soil to grow a crop again next year. While we are addressing soil fertility, do not forget about micronutrients to avoid the “limiting factor” in our feed to our crop.

Sulfur has proven to be a nutrient that we have been lacking in the past few years. It has been said by many scientists that we were getting 12# of sulfur/acre from the environment before sulfur was taken out of fuel and cleaned from emissions, and this has pretty much been eliminated as a source of sulfur for our cropping system. Sulfur is available in many forms and can be applied by multiple forms of application (dry, liquid, foliar). Elemental sulfur is an easy product to blend with fertilizer to get needed sulfur to our crops. Elemental sulfur does not break down as rapidly as a few other forms of sulfur, if applied annually or biannually works well as a sulfur source.

We also have a dry micro product that contains sulfur, manganese, boron, zinc, and calcium. Elemental sulfur and this micro pack have worked very well mixed together with dry fertilizer to apply a complete nutrient package. The sulfur in the micro package is a little more readily available than the elemental sulfur and gives an early sulfur boost until the elemental starts to work in the soil profile. This combination also gives enough boron, manganese, zinc, and calcium to feed a good crop.

Contact your local SFG agronomist to discuss fall fertilizer, sulfur, and micronutrient needs for fall application.
Have a safe fall season in your harvest, fall tillage season, fertilizer application, and NH3 applications.