Weather Might Push Some to Apply Fertilizer Early

OMAHA (DTN) -- Despite some spring-like weather conditions, farmers need to remember early season fertilizer management practices and avoid applying nutrients in some forms too early. Some practices can be done during the month of March, but others should be avoided.

Failure to follow these warnings could result in less fertilizer available to plants when they need it. Growers should also be aware of wasting expensive fertilizer products, which may hurt their bottom lines, according to extension specialists.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG?

In a University of Minnesota Extension Nutrient Management podcast titled "2025 Spring Fertilizer Outlook: What should Minnesota farmers consider, avoid?", four extension specialists take a closer look at what this spring is looking like for Minnesota farmers. The podcast can be heard here: https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/… .

Brad Carlson, an extension educator in Mankato, Minnesota, said he recently drove from southeastern Minnesota to the northwest part of the state and believes most areas appear to be in average condition. There is ponding in some locations, but it is difficult to assess if that is a surplus of water or it just hasn't had the chance to drain yet.

Considering the state saw some dry conditions in the 2024 growing season, the frost in the soil might be weak this spring. It takes more energy to thaw water than it does to heat air, he said.

"And so, if we got frozen soils that aren't particularly wet, that frost tends to go out fairly easily and fairly quickly," Carlson said.

This situation of dry field conditions early might push some farmers to attempt to apply fertilizer in March. The specialists said some caution should be taken.

ONLY USE CERTAIN FORMS OF NITROGEN EARLY

Fabian Fernandez, nutrient management specialist, said any nitrogen application this early in the growing season must have some thought behind it. The only forms of nitrogen he would recommend in March would be anhydrous ammonia or ESN, a coated urea product that is 44% nitrogen and is slowly released from 50 to 80 days.

What you are trying to do is apply product that keeps nitrogen from nitrifying quickly because as soon as it begins to warm up, the fertilizer will nitrify, he said. These two sources of nitrogen are the only forms to use early.

When using anhydrous ammonia, soil conditions must be considered. If you apply in soils that are too dry or very wet you have higher potential to lose some of the nitrogen through volatilization at the moment of application, Fernandez said.

"If you smell ammonia, you know that you're losing nitrogen," Fernandez said. "It's probably not a good situation to be applying."

Fernandez said growers should be careful with handling ESN, especially early in the growing season.

Running the product through augers that tend to be a bit rusty this time of year could wear out the coating, which is protecting the nitrogen. At this point, you're just applying urea, which is not recommended this early in the growing season, he said.

Daniel Kaiser, nutrient management specialist, said in years with early fertilizer application, he usually gets some calls about the application of urea.

The big thing about applying urea in the spring is to remember that it is highly water soluble, he said. If the soil is still somewhat frozen and water is on the surface of the soil, the urea will dissolve quickly, and the nitrogen will be lost.

While cooperating weather in March is positive, farmers need to remember it's still early and these applications have the most potential for loss, he said.

Kaiser pointed to spring 2024 where there was a good-sized window to apply fertilizer in April. However, the weather turned wet and there was probably some nitrogen lost because of this situation.

"There really is no reason to jump the gun because there's plenty of post-planting options too if it gets to a point where the (crop) has to go in," Kaiser said. "Especially if you're in a corn following soybeans situation, there are options out there that you can use."

FARMERS QUESTION BIOLOGICALS

Jeff Vetsch, a research supervisor at the Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, said he does receive quite a few questions from growers about biologicals. It seemed like there was some excitement about these products a few years ago, but now there is a bit more hesitation, he said.

Kaiser has been doing some research for 15 years at Lamberton with biologicals. The initial study was treating phosphorus (P) and potash (K) with these new products and then they added starter fertilizer to the study.

From his data, zinc levels were marginally higher in the study, which might be something to think about in certain situations, he said.

But at the same time, farmers have to be aware of fertilizer costs affecting their profitability. These costs often make up about a quarter of the total production costs for corn.

Carlson said research from the University of Minnesota Extension FINBIN financial data shows the least-profitable farms are spending 30% more on fertilizer than the most-profitable farms. In many cases, farmers are either overapplying fertilizer or using unnecessary products, he speculated.

"I have sensed with the current economic (conditions) in agriculture that there has been a damping down of a lot of interest in those types of products and technologies," Carlson said.

Russ Quinn can be reached at Russ.Quinn@dtn.com

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