Seeding equipment was parked in farm yards and fields last week as rain and overcast skies moved through large portions of the Prairies. It was week three of wet weather, which left farmers wondering how soon they will be able to finish seeding.
When they do return to planting, farmers may want to consider the amount of nitrogen in their soils. In fields where fertilizer was applied before the rain, nitrogen may have been lost through leaching or denitrification.
“Nitrogen deficiency will show up quite early,” said John Heard, a soil fertility specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
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Seeding more important
In fields that have not been seeded and fertilized, Heard advises giving first priority to seeding. He said people who traditionally apply nitrogen before seeding should not fuss with that this year.
“Although everyone has a preferential way they like to put nitrogen down, the bottom line is that nitrogen can be put down in a multitude of different ways.
“People shouldn’t just lock themselves into doing it the traditional way. There are many options.”
Yield potential tends to decline the later a crop is seeded. Farmers applying nitrogen are encouraged to adjust rates accordingly.
“This is one year when they may want to back off a little bit on their nitrogen requirements,” said Cynthia Grant, a research scientist at Agriculture Canada’s Brandon research centre.
“If people haven’t put on their nitrogen, they may want to put on less than they may have otherwise at an early seeding date.”
Denitrification is most common in low-lying areas that are saturated with water. Microbes in the soil start using nitrates rather than oxygen.
With leaching, nitrogen settles below the root zone. Leaching is more common in coarse and sandy soils.
In fields where fertilizer was applied before wet weather arrived, some nitrogen loss might work to the farmer’s advantage if seeding isn’t done.
Heavier amounts of nitrogen tend to delay crop maturity.
“Losses of a little bit of nitrogen might not be that bad a thing this year, since seeding has been delayed so long,” said Grant, who farms with her husband near Minn-edosa, Man.
“It might help you out in a frost situation.”
Farmers might want to increase the seeding rate to hasten crop maturity. A thicker crop reduces the amount of tillering, which delays maturity.
“This may be one time when you don’t want to be at the low end of the seeding rate,” advised Grant. “You want to be at the higher end of the seeding rate.”
