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Ammonia Use in Wet Soils and Late Season Fertilizer Supplies
Wet spring soils may cause producers to abandon efforts to apply pre-plant nitrogen fertilizer and apply nitrogen as a top-dress or sidedress application. Before reaching a decision regarding N fertilizer timing, talk to a local supplier and discuss intentions. The supplier may already be anticipating the move towards late fertilizer application, but if not, it is possible that the fertilizer needed may not be in place when application time approaches. The best chance to improve the availability of fertilizers later in the spring will be to communicate with suppliers now.
Ammonia can sometimes be successfully applied to wetter soils if one or more of the following management guidelines are used:
1. Ammonia applied pre-plant should be applied at a slight angle to planting, with ammonia depth 4-6 inches. Delay planting at least 2 days to reduce risk of seed injury and stand reduction. Some stand reductions are possible up to 5 days after application.
2. Separate seed and the ammonia band by at least 2 inches in heavy soils and 3 inches in coarse soils.
3. Cover the application trench with fine soil through the use of cover paddles, harrows, disc covers and other tools.
4. Oversized hoses from the manifold to the application shank do not decrease the risk of ammonia loss or stand reduction. Using depth to control ammonia losses is often a good way to manage an ammonia application in wet soils.
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