As farmers pour into local co-ops and other fertilizer retailers to prepare for spring planting, many find long lines or shortages of the anhydrous ammonia they need for fields.
“Nobody had much of a chance to get work done last fall because harvest was late and wet, so pretty much it’s left all the anhydrous ammonia to go on this spring and caused a logistical nightmare,” said Bill Coen, vice president of plant foods and transportation for MFA, Inc. “Guys who have been in the business 40 years haven’t seen this type of spring unfold before where everyone’s running at once. It’s very unusual.”
University of Missouri Extension soil specialist Peter Scharf recommends that farmers not squander prime planting time to wait for anhydrous.
“I advise farmers to plant when conditions are right even if that means finding another way to get their nitrogen on,” Scharf said.
“Pre-emerge, post-emerge, sidedress, topdress, broadcasting, injected, dribbled—there are lots of ways to get it done that will work – and the plants aren’t picky about when they get it.
“Research suggests that as long as you get your nitrogen down before corn is three feet tall there is no average yield difference from getting it on before planting.”
MFA is not the only business dealing with anhydrous supply issues. Conditions across the Midwest seem to be the reason for the trouble for everyone.
“Generally [field work] starts in the south – Texas and Oklahoma – and they will finish before we start, but this year we had the whole upper and lower Midwest dry up at the same time,” Coen said. “Once that started we ended up draining the supply in the state in a week’s time, where our terminals went through three to four weeks’ storage in a week’s time.”
Compounding the problem is transportation issues.
Coen explained that there are a limited number of anhydrous transfer trailers. Those typically travel from state to state servicing the needs of co-ops and distributors as the planting season progresses from south to north. Since Missouri fields didn’t dry up until about 10 days after neighboring states, the trucks weren’t available here to transport anhydrous from terminals near the Kansas/Missouri and Missouri/Illinois borders to local co-ops.
Coen noted that the problem may begin to lessen somewhat. He estimates that about half of farmers have applied nitrogen now.
Scharf advises that there are ways to get the nitrogen on fields other than anhydrous.
“Anhydrous is the cheapest nitrogen source and the most resistant to loss, but the slowest to apply,” he said. “Given how far behind we are in field operations, other sources that are faster to apply are a good choice this year.
“They’re a little more expensive, but less expensive than losing yield because you didn’t plant when there were ideal conditions.” Sidedress application of anhydrous later in the season is another way to deal with the current bottleneck. “It will probably be a lot easier to get in a few weeks.”
Scharf warned of problems with planting too soon after application. Ammonia is toxic to seeds, which can be a potential problem if they come in contact.
“Placing the anhydrous deep enough to prevent seed contact is more important than a time lag between application and planting,” said Scharf.
Another option is that farmers with RTK GPS systems can use the system to maintain a constant distance between the application track and the seed furrow.
As far as phosphorus and potassium fertilizer goes, Scharf said many fields are positioned well even if none are applied this spring.
“For people who have in the past had a regular nutrient program, their soil should have enough stored to supply what the crop needs,” Scharf said. “If they like a cushion they can double up next time they apply fertilizer.
“Farmers haven’t had to deal with this before and that’s been stressful, but there are ways to get around this predicament.”
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