CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Using starter fertilizer on three Illinois no-till
farming sites during the past three years has produced economically desirable
returns that compensate for the initial investment of equipment and supplies,
university agronomists say.
The experimental fields produced up to 14 additional bushels of corn per
acre, said Karl B. Ritchie, a University of Illinois doctoral student in
agronomy, in a report given Nov. 6 in Indianapolis at the 1996 annual meetings
of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and
Soil Science Society of America.
The study is the first hard look at the economic benefit to farmers who
choose to use starter fertilizer, which has been shown to boost yields in
no-till fields that have been studied in Illinois and Indiana by the U.
of I. and by Purdue University, respectively.
No-till corn, in particular, often starts growing slowly because of cool,
wet soils early in the season. Starter fertilizers provide farmers the chance
to increase early nutrient availability.
In Ritchie's tests, the best results consistently were obtained with starter
fertilizer containing a nitrogen and phosphate blend applied by what's known
as the 2X2-banded technique (2 inches to the side of the seed and 2 inches
below the surface).
The earnings from the additional bushels produced by the technique were
enough to offset the estimated $1,000 per row cost initially spent on equipment
and fertilizer, said Robert G. Hoeft, a professor of agronomy and faculty
adviser on Ritchie's research.
"The fertilizer is not cheap," Ritchie said. "The steel on
a planter is the big cost, about $1,000 per row. That's a big investment.
But if you're looking at 500 acres of corn with a 10-bushel yield increase,
that's a $30 an acre return, assuming $3 corn, and that adds up fast. The
attachment is not just used one year, so your return will continue in subsequent
years."
Because the return on investment was consistent across so many locations,
Hoeft said, "I really feel pretty strongly that no-till farmers ought
to consider the use of starter fertilizer."
The research was done across Illinois, between Ashton and Dixon in the north,
near Gridley to the north of Bloomington and near Oblong in the southeast.
A site near Pana, west of Shelbyville, also was included, but rain washed
out the experiments. The soils are typical of those found in the Midwest.
The researchers also analyzed the use of less-expensive surface-applied
starter fertilizer, finding increased yields but not as significant, nor
as much economical benefit, as those gains from the 2X2-banded treatment.
They also concluded that soils with low potassium levels could be improved
by using potassium in the starter if potassium is not used in an initial
broadcast application; in two of three years at Oblong, there was no response
to potassium when potassium already had been broadcast.