ESN-coated urea | There’s still time for applications, although official warns against broadcasting
Wheat fields with seed-placed Environmentally Smart Nitrogen-coated urea have yielded up to seven bushels per acre more than fields with conventional urea methods.
The field scale tests were conducted in conjunction with provincial agriculture departments, universities and research centres in all three prairie provinces, said Alan Blaylock, agronomy manager with Agrium Advanced Technologies.
Although it’s too late to apply ESN to winter wheat, Blaylock said there’s still plenty of time to bring all the other fields up to their full nitrogen complement by drilling in ESN.
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“Many growers now use a one-pass single knife system to put down their entire nitrogen load with ESN urea, along with P (phosphorus) and K (potassium) and their seed,” said Blaylock.
“It doesn’t get much more efficient than that. If you’re just pulling a single knife through the soil, you’re saving a lot of fuel.”
Manitoba researchers have recently found that controlled release urea is only financially advantageous in Western Canada when used for specific applications such as in-row, single chute seeding or high-rate side banding, or in high moisture soils.
Winter wheat crops are now growing, but Blaylock urged growers to resist the temptation to broadcast urea, ESN coated or non-coated.
A warm spell in late fall or early winter is always a possibility, he added, which won’t be a problem if ESN is already buried in the soil.
“But if it’s on the surface and there’s a series of warm sunny days, then the soil will warm up and the product will start to release. That’s why we tell growers to avoid fall broadcast,” he said.
“Farmers often ask at what temperature ESN starts to release, but it’s not that simple. ESN isn’t like a light switch that’s either off or on. It’s more like a dimmer switch that goes off and on gradually in small increments. If you get a few days of 5 C, then the release is very slow, and very little is released. It’s really a non-issue as long as the ESN is in the ground and the soil temperature remains colder than 50 F (10 C).”
Blaylock said corn growers in particular can take advantage of the technology because they put so much more nitrogen into the ground.
“Growers in the northern corn belt can have a complete fertilization by blending ESN with their phosphorous and potassium,” he said.
“For farmers who don’t want to handle anhydrous ammonia, ESN can perform as well or better than anhydrous.”
Blaylock said the obvious benefit for any type of field crop is the fact that ESN eliminates the hassle of spring fertilizer operations, thus allowing farmers to concentrate on spring weed management and seeding.
“It protects N (nitrogen) from leaching, volatilization and denitrification …. without the worry of N loss through the winter,” he said.
“ESN is like a small storage facility for N, protecting it until the appropriate time for the crop to use it. The technology regulates the release of N at the proper time.”
