Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with Precision Nutrient Management Extension Specialist for Oklahoma State University, Brian Arnall, about nitrogen application on winter wheat crops.
Arnall talked about the value of in-season nitrogen management so the environment can “play out” a little bit.
“On the forage side, we need that nitrogen to create the biomass, but on the grain-only side, we have seen for many ears that we are not getting any return on that pre-plant, versus something later season,” Arnall said. “We thought earlier we needed it for early vigor, we thought we needed it for tiller management and tiller production. All of these things we thought we needed early nitrogen for on our grain only crop isn’t playing that way.”
While on the forage side, that nitrogen is needed to create biomass, Arnall said on the grain-only side, there have not been any returns on the pre-planting of nitrogen versus the early season.
“It takes rain to grow grain and forage in Oklahoma- we all know that,” Arnall said. “When our nitrogen fertilizer goes into the soil, it turns into a mobile nutrient nitrate, so if we have a lot of rains, it is going to create leaching, it is going to create water movement below the root system. Early nitrogen on a good grain or forage year is likely to be lost due to leaching.”
As this year has presented its own challenges for producers, Arnall said he hopes producers can learn that there is no need to make massive shifts of production methods, as systems have the ability to adapt.
