With recent increases in crop input and commodity prices, farmers want to ensure that every unit of fertilizer is being used efficiently. Where do you start when building your fertilizer budget?
Here are six considerations as you make decisions for the next cropping year.
Start with a soil sample. A soil sample allows you to assess the nutrients available in the soil and develop a fertilizer plan that will meet your crop’s yield goals while not over applying — a waste of time and money and an environmentally detrimental practice. Sampling every three years or once in each crop rotation cycle is commonly accepted.
Consider your yield goals. Every bushel grown takes a certain amount of nutrients out of the soil. For example, a bushel of corn removes about 0.9 pounds of nitrogen (N), 0.37 pounds of phosphate (P2O5), and 0.27 pounds of potash (K2O). Combining these nutrient removal rates with calculations on your expected yield goals can help keep fertilizer calculations more accurate.
Don’t forget your starter. If starter fertilizers are a part of your on-farm practices, remember to consider those nutrients in your calculations.
Look for deficiency or lower yields. Spots that saw deficiencies may need a little extra nutrition for the coming crop.
Consider your long-term plan for the field. If you own the field or plan to farm it for an extended period, make sure fertilizer applications are a part of planning ahead as well. However, if the field may change purposes next year or may not be part of your acres, this may be a year to consider only applying what's necessary for the crop at hand.
Buy fertilizer before the end of the year. Retailers often allow you to lock in prices to meet their year-end and prepay goals and your tax plan. Buying before January will enable you to plan and avoid price hikes that may come in the New Year.
How to Maximize Your Next Fertilizer Investment
Biostimulants aren't fertilizers, but they help your fertilizer work more efficiently. These biological crop additives can help plants access nutrients tied up in the soil. Maximizing fertilizer uptake is especially significant in a high-cost fertilizer market.
Biostimulants encourage microbial activity in the soil. These microbes break down soil organic matter (OM), taking nutrients and converting them to a chemical form the plant can easily access. This addition means more efficient fertilizer applications.
By adding biostimulants to your input mix, you can improve your crop’s access to nutrients already in the soil. These microbes are often dormant in the soil, so they aren’t breaking down the OM and making the nutrients more available. This addition allows farmers to apply less fertilizer and increase yield, thanks to the plant health benefits of the biostimulant.
Supplement Your Starter Fertilizer
If starter fertilizers are part of your fertility plan, maximizing their efficiency can boost early plant development and overall yield potential. Adding biostimulants like Generate® Plus increases microbial activity, improving nutrient availability and uptake right from the start.
Field trials show that Generate Plus, powered by Agnition’s Microbial Catalyst® technology, increased microbial activity by 22% in the soil, leading to better nutrient release and plant access. Research also confirms that this technology can double cellulosic activity, making macro- and micronutrients more available to crops—supporting stronger early growth and higher yield potential.
In field trials, soils treated with Generate Plus saw:
18% more nitrogen uptake
10-12% more phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) uptake
In corn-on-corn rotation trials, combining Generate Plus with NPK resulted in:
+9.44 bu/ac increase at standard NPK rates
+7.45 bu/ac increase even when NPK was reduced to 75%
Try it on Your Farm—With Zero Risk
We stand behind every Microbial Catalyst product with the 2025 Agnition Performance Guarantee. Try a product on your farm, and if you don’t see a measurable yield increase, we’ll replace your product for free—no risk, no hassle. Try it now!
Comments