As anyone who applies anhydrous ammonia in the fall knows, the logistics of the task can be exasperating. Is the soil cold enough? Will it be cold enough by the time I finish? Is it really going to be 17 degrees next week? I also need to get my fall herbicide down now. And on it goes.
Bryce Geisel says that farmers in what he calls “the anhydrous belt” know the challenges well.
“The logistics in the fall are just different,” says the senior agronomist for Canada, representative for Koch Agronomic Services. “You have to get anhydrous in the ground, yes. But you have to have the right conditions, or you risk losses through nitrification.”
The anhydrous belt tends to be in the black soil zone throughout the Prairies – soils rich in organic matter and microorganisms, including bacteria that break down ammonia and convert it into nitrate.
“Typically, we think of getting anhydrous down in the fall when the soil is eight degrees or colder because at that temperature, the bacteria slow down,” says Geisel.
In a world where fall freeze-up is becoming less predictable, protecting anhydrous ammonia from denitrification is becoming more important, he says. N-stabilizers specifically designed for anhydrous haven’t always been the easiest things to use, true. But Geisel says that new CENTURO A-PRO nitrogen stabilizer is about to change all that and make fall logistics a lot easier for Canadian farmers.
More time, less worry
“CENTURO A-PRO is brand new and it’s only available in Canada,” says Geisel, explaining that this is a more concentrated formulation of CENTURO nitrogen stabilizer. That concentration makes all the difference to application timing, ease of handling, use efficiency and peace-of-mind.
“The original formulation contained 14 per cent Pronitridine, which translates to an application rate of 21 litres per tonne,” he says. “The CENTURO A-PRO formulation is three times more concentrated, containing 44 per cent Pronitridine, which is an application rate of 6.7 litres per tonne – that is much more manageable in the field.”
That per-tonne rate makes CENTURO A-PRO much easier to use in variable rate fertilizer scenarios. “We are seeing a lot more variable rate application, even with anhydrous,” says Geisel. “With this formulation, the same amount of Pronitridine goes down regardless of the N rate being applied.”
Geisel says that CENTURO A-PRO will keep that anhydrous ammonia in the ground longer and protect it from above and below ground losses, even if conditions warm up after application, or if time pressures mean farmers need to start applying anhydrous earlier when soil temperatures aren’t exactly ideal.
“CENTURO A-PRO lets farmers apply anhydrous sooner if they need to,” he says, adding that how much earlier is measured in weeks rather than days. In fact, with CENTURO A-PRO, anhydrous ammonia can be applied when soil temperatures are as warm as 15 C and dropping. The wider application window is a huge benefit in a time-crunched part of the year.
“Another benefit is that you can put CENTURO A-PRO directly into the nurse tank with the anhydrous,” says Geisel. “It’s noncorrosive, so it can sit there for a while if it has to without damaging your equipment. It just checks all the boxes.”
For Geisel, the primary objective is to preserve as much nutrient as possible until the crop is ready for it in the spring, and CENTURO A-PRO is a valuable tool to achieve that goal.
“You just don’t know what you’re going to get in the fall, weather-wise,” says Geisel. “It’s so important to protect that ammonia so that if it warms up, or doesn’t cool down as expected, it’s still there when you need it.”
To learn more about CENTURO A-PRO nitrogen stabilizer, contact the Koch Agronomic Services sales representative in your area or visit the website kochagronomicservices.ca/centuro-ca.
