Harvest season is upon us and while you may have your fall fertilizer plans decided or locked in, there is still time to fine-tune those plans with enhancements to add a boost of efficiency. Fertilizer is likely one of your most expensive inputs, regardless of when you decide to put it down. But do you know that incorporating a biological fertilizer enhancement into your fertilizer strategy, even in the fall, can help you protect your investment and help you get your spring crop kicked off right?
We are used to hearing about biological products or bio-fertilizer enhancements used on seed, in-furrow or early in the growing season. But, in the fall? Can that really work? Yes. With the BiOWiSH® Fertilizer Enhancement, it can be successfully added to select fall fertilizers.
The BiOWiSH® Fertilizer Enhancement contains dormant bacterial endospores, which remain dormant until they are exposed to the sufficient levels of nutrients, soil moisture, and soil temperature required to initiate germination in your crop – making it a great addition for fall fertilizer. Below are ways it can complement fall fertilizer programs for a wide variety of initiatives including cover crops, double crop rotations, and bare soil.
- Boosting Fall Cover Crop Rotations: Fall cover crops can benefit cash crop production by increasing soil organic matter and improving soil fertility by capturing excess nutrients after harvest. This sustainable practice can also aid in preventing soil erosion. Unfortunately, the transition to cover cropping can be a challenge because it comes with several management adjustments and the first year of adoption growers often experience lower yields in their cash crop. However, growers can increase their chances of successfully implementing cover crops into their rotations by using fall-applied fertilizer enhanced with BiOWiSH® on their cover crops. We recently partnered with Iowa State University to study the effects of BiOWiSH® Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer on cover crop biomass and corn yields in Central Iowa. When used as part of a fall-applied fertilizer for a first-year cover crop, the study revealed that there was a yield loss with an introduction of cover crops, even when fertilized with BiOWiSH® Enhanced Fertilizer. However, the BiOWiSH® Fertilizer Enhancement resulted in a cover crop biomass increase of 9.7% over the Control. It also boosted marketable corn yield by 7.9 % the following growing season when compared to the cover cropped Control. Overall, the treatment helped to mitigate the yield loss often experienced with a first-year program when applied in the fall.
- Enhancing Double Crop Rotations: Similar carryover effects and favorable results have been realized in double crop rotations such as winter cereal to spring legume, as well. A recent research study from the University of Arkansas revealed that BiOWiSH® Enhanced Fertilizer, when applied to winter wheat in the fall, led to a 4.6% yield increase over the Control, providing a $21 USD/acre advantage. In addition, the following soybean crop also realized a yield increase (22.9%) over the Control, resulting from that one application of BiOWiSH® the prior fall. While this soybean yield uplift result is outside of the 90% confidence interval for our vast global dataset, the consistent uplift across both treatments in this trial (without any individual replicate outliers) may suggest a unique synergy for this double cropping management practice. Additionally, the soybean yield gains provided a substantial return on investment for the grower at $104 USD/acre. When combined, the value of using BiOWiSH® Enhanced Fertilizer in the fall for this winter wheat and soybean system equaled $125 USD/acre in extra profitability for the grower.
- Enriching Bare Soil: Fall fertilizer applications vary depending on the area’s climate, crop type, soil type, management practice, fertilizer cost, regulatory requirements, and now regenerative agriculture programs. We engaged the University of Minnesota to conduct a research trial on the efficacy of BiOWiSH® when coated onto urea and applied in the fall to bare (drained) soil, prior to corn. Compared to the Control program, the fall-applied BiOWiSH® Enhanced urea led to a 4.3% corn yield increase, which resulted in a $38 USD/acre increase in profit. These results not only demonstrate the positive carryover effects of BiOWiSH® into the spring, but also provide insightful learnings to growers who may not consider urea to be an option for the fall. As the Midwest continues to experience regulatory pressures and fertilizer application caps (for fall or spring), this leads to the necessity of more split applications. Therefore, growers might find themselves seeking more efficient and flexible options for maximizing their fertility programs.
Providing Ongoing Flexibility
The BiOWiSH® Fertilizer Enhancement is extremely adaptable and enables growers to select the right fertility program for their operation based on their own success criteria. Known as “The BiOWiSH Choice,” growers have the flexibility to manage their fertility programs and rates to best meet their farm business goals. It’s also ideal because it can be added at any stage of a fertilizer program using any application process as long as there is soil contact.
Well-managed fertilizer programs make or break a growing season. This fall, consider taking the extra step to add the BiOWiSH® Fertilizer Enhancement to fall fertilizer applications. As a low-cost add-on compared to the other enhancements and biological products in the marketplace, it is proven to perform consistently – winning 86% of the time over a standard fertility program. Its consistency and versatility can help growers worldwide maximize their investment and increase profit regardless of fluctuating conditions. To learn more, download our fall applications brochure.