Making Profitable Fertilizer Decisions

Over the next few months, fall fertilizer applications will be taking place as the 2020 crop is harvested. To prepare for this, many of you will be making plans with your agronomist and utilizing a few different precision ag practices that you have adopted over the years—Grid Sampling and Variable Rate Fertilizer Applications. Grid samples and VR fertilizer applications have been welcome technologies that have helped many of you improve your fertilizer use efficiencies. Elite Crop can help take you to the next level of improving your fertilizer efficiencies and increasing your Return on Investment (ROI).

Grid Samples

Elite Crop utilizes your grid sample results and pairs that with management zones as well as your historical yield data. Management zones are built by you, your agronomist and myself, utilizing layers of your historical data to differentiate between separate production level areas of a field. Each management zone has different soil test nutrient level goals based on the zone's production capabilities. The soil test level goals are based on thousands of acres worth of local group data that was used to help set soil test level goals for each zone. Historical yield data is used to calculate actual nutrient crop removal spatially across your fields. Combining those three pieces of information gives you the ability to create a customized application for every 60 foot by 60 foot block in your field. Knowing how many pounds of nutrients were removed, whether you are spreading a one-year or a two-year spread, can greatly help you become more efficient with your fertilizer use. By knowing exactly what was removed, the correct amount of fertilizer can be reapplied—making sure high-yielding areas receive enough nutrients and lower-yielding areas are not over-applied. When you pair that with the knowledge of what zones to push fertility levels on and what areas to pull back on, you create a very in-depth fertilizer plan built around improving your bottom line. 

Enhanced Learning Blocks® 

Elite Crop also gives you the ability to run university-style trials on your field with Enhanced Learning Blocks® (ELB). Randomized and replicated trials give you the ability to test different products or practices on your own acres and check to see if you really are improving your profitability. ELBs let you conduct this style of trial from your cab with no added effort on your end! Multiple rate nitrogen ELBs can be set up to focus on the most profitable nitrogen rates for your fields. Or long-term phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) ELBs can be set up to test current fertility procedures and generate knowledge to help improve your system's ROI. 

Elite Crop is here to help you turn your data into knowledge. Knowledge helps you make more informed decisions, helping your operation become more profitable. Interested in making better-informed crop nutrient decisions on your acres or finding out other ways Elite Crop can help you improve your profitability? Talk to your local Agronomist or give me a call at 712-348-4064 and we would be happy to talk through the options with you!