One of the most critical tasks for any farmer is to place seed and fertilizer at the right spot in the ground.
The season depends on what happens when steel meets soil.
And sometimes, in the quest for a better understanding of seed and fertilizer placement, the distinction between farmers, researchers and industry blurs.
Many full-time researchers on the Prairies are also farmers. Some full-time farmers rank among the top researchers. And manufacturers have proven to be the technological leaders through their own research.
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Garry Meier is one of the people who wears many hats. He works as an agronomist with Bourgault Industries and also operates a 10,000 acre farm near Ridgedale, Sask. He took his quest for answers a step further when he bought his own plot seeder.
“I initially bought the plot seeder because (on our farm) we’re working on our own varieties of hemp,” Meier said.
“Then I started looking at all the things it’s capable of doing, and I decided I could do some agronomy work on seed and fertilizer placement.”
The depth and lateral position of the seed and fertilizer openers were adjustable, making it a suitable machine for testing combinations of seed-fertilizer placement.
The metering and control mechanisms were originally designed for scientific purposes so were as precise as a farmer could want. The cone metering units in the cab give operators exact control over flow rates.
Retired Agriculture Canada engineer Ben Dyck designed the seeder, which was built by Fabro Manufacturing in Swift Current, Sask.
The drill allows the operator to make faster machine changes that would not be possible on most other plot drills and certainly not on field-scale commercial drills.
In 2008, Meier and Bourgault worked with University of Saskatchewan research agrologist Jeff Schoenau to conduct seed and fertilizer placement trials at St. Brieux, Sask.
They also worked with Jay Fisher at the North Dakota State Research Station to conduct parallel trials at Minot, N.D.
The study was designed to examine the effects of nitrogen fertilizer when placed to the side of the seed row at one inch, two inches, three inches, four inches and five inches.
The other fertilizer placement in the study was halfway between every second inter-row in a mid-row band.
Plots were seeded with no nitrogen as a control, as well as 100 and 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre in each of the six positions.
Trials were also conducted with seed-placed phosphate and phosphate banded one inch to the side of the seed.
There were 64 plots at each site, all with Roundup Ready canola to minimize the impact of weed competition on results.
“It’s premature to draw conclusions. We have only one year of data at two sites, and that’s not enough” Meier said.
“What we did see in 2008 was statistically significant, but we need more years and more sites.”
A summary of the research is published in Bourgault’s newsletter Cutting Edge Winter 2008-Spring 2009 issue.
The report said the Minot plots showed a distinct yield increase as the nitrogen band moved farther away from the seed row for both the 100 and 200 lb. rates. Minot had drier conditions than Saskatchewan, so fertilizer proximity may have been a bigger factor in 2008.
A similar trend was noticed at St. Brieux, but to a lesser degree, probably because the Saskatchewan site had better soil moisture that mitigates the negative impact of close fertilizer proximity.
According to a Bourgault spokesperson, more soil moisture supports the old saying that rainfall disguises seeding problems.
For 2009, the study will expand to the Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre, South Dakota, under the direction of zero till researcher Dwayne Beck.
Another study site will be established in the black-brown soil zone at Odessa, Sask.
Meier said all four research sites in 2009 will include agronomic trials with a triple shoot delivery of seed and fertilizer.
“We think there’s merit in isolating seed from the starter fertilizer,” he said. “So all sites will run 100 lb. and 200 lb. nitrogen through the mid-row system, but in some plots we’ll put the starter fertilizer in a side band so it’s all by itself.”
Meier said the growing acceptance of variable rate is one reason for these research initiatives. It’s not uncommon to see zones spike in one field from almost no nitrogen requirement up to 200 lb. or more, he added.
“There are similar spikes in starter fertilizer requirements, so we’re looking at moving that load away from the seed as much as possible,” he said.
“In variable rate, if we start running phosphorus at 50 to 60 lb., or 80 lb. product per acre, that’s too hot for the seed row. You get the salting affect, germination problems and problems with stand establishment.
“Our observation is that if you want to move phosphorus away from the seed, you’d better not place phosphate in your nitrogen band. Nitrogen is too hot. The roots won’t go there for nearly a month, so you’re denying them access to phosphorus when they need it most.”
Meier said plant tissue analysis isn’t necessary to identify phosphorus deficiency because it’s easy to see with the naked eye.
“There’s purpling, cupping, delayed growth. We saw this at Minot in 2007 and Choiceland, Sask., in 2008 when we moved phosphorus into the nitrogen band,” he said.
“In this case it was an inch and a half to the side and an inch and a half below the seed row. We’ll repeat this in 2009 at as many sites as possible.
“There are some manufacturers who recommend putting phosphorus in the nitrogen band. We think this triggers a phosphorus deficiency. The roots just won’t go into that nitrogen band when the plant is young.”
To test this theory, Bourgault identified three Saskatchewan farms in 2008 that were large enough to operate two different drills.
On each farm, one drill was a Bourgault 3310 with mid-row banding. The other was a dual-knife system that bands nitrogen to the side of the seed row.
One farm used dry urea, another used liquid 28-0-0 and the third used anhydrous.
All three farms agreed to run both drills in the same fields to obtain valid comparisons.
The Torch River farm is situated on grey-wooded soils at Choiceland in northeastern Saskatchewan. It has a Bourgault 3310 PHD and a Seed Hawk dual-knife drill.
It uses Bourgault 6350 tanks and anhydrous ammonia as its nitrogen source on both drills. The setup allows the farm to conveniently blow phosphate fertilizer directly to the seed row or to the nitrogen side band. By making the switch, it can compare the effects of phosphorus placement.
“On these fields, in an attempt to move phosphorus away from the seed, he moved phosphorus from the seed row into the nitrogen band on the dual-knife drill,” Meier said.
Bourgault reports the side-banded phosphate field was slower to develop compared to the seed-placed phosphate.
Even with the close proximity of the side-banded nitrogen, the plants at this trial responded better to the seed-placed phosphate.
For more information, contact Meier at gmeier@bourgault.com.
