New MFA agronomic trials go beyond yield

Each year, MFA tests the waters with many different agronomic products around our trade territory. At our localized research farms in Boonville and Columbia, Mo., we not only look at new corn hybrids and soybean varieties but also new fertilizers, seed treatments, fungicides, biostimulants, biologicals and plant growth regulators—just to name a few.

Harvest is well underway in MFA’s trade territory, and we have already witnessed outstanding performance from some of this year’s seed products. I am looking forward to diving into the yield results, but from an in-season perspective, there are several other trials of interest, including research on phosphorus biological products, high-yield product addition and subtraction, and nitrogen on soybeans. While these trials were not a stop on this summer’s Training Camp tour, they are worth highlighting.

Phosphorus biological trials

Previously, MFA has looked at many individual biological products with different rates for nitrogen-fixing biologicals, but we have never researched the same type of product with phosphorus. In one of this year’s studies, we focused on biologicals that help release phosphorus, evaluating their effectiveness by comparing each product with differing rates. These rates consisted of no phosphorus, 50% of recommended phosphorus and 100% of the recommended rate.

It can be hard to see a fertilizer rate response depending on soil fertility levels and availability of those nutrients to the crop. Miraculous as it is, we already have seen an effect on corn height when comparing rate response from no phosphorus to 100% of the recommended rate without a biological applied. While that is encouraging, it is even more impressive to see no difference in height when the biological product was added to each of the fertilizer rates. This was a standout in comparison to the other treatments that still had some increase in height with increased fertilization. I am interested to see if the increased height also translates to higher yield.

We have struggled to find consistent performance with biologicals, but this year could prove different. As always, we never consider one season a true success. If we see a response at harvest, we will continue this research until we find a trend that can be repeated for success.

High-yielding product additions and subtraction

This year, I wanted to see just how far we could push corn and soybean yields by using almost every product and practice available. In the past, we have tried many combinations with success and even some added benefits. One combo that we always preach is fungicide with Gold Advantage Trend-B, our nitrogen foliar product that contains added boron. Specifically, we applied a three-modes-of-action fungicide with Gold Advantage Trend-B. Last year, we also found that adding an insecticide to this mix on soybeans achieved an 8- to 10-bushel yield advantage.

With that in mind, this year’s plots had treatments that added sulfur, split applications of nitrogen, fungicides, insecticides, Gold Advantage Complete, Gold Advantage Trend-B, plant growth regulators and biologicals. I did not try them in every combination, but I tried to keep to the basics of each treatment applied on its own and then different steps up that growers might take in chasing the highest yields possible.

While the sky is the limit when looking at these plots, there are still more possible combinations to try. With this research path, it’s important to understand how products interact not only with each other but also with the growing conditions we face each year.

Nitrogen on soybeans

Adding nitrogen to a plant that already fixes nitrogen seems like a waste, and it can be when trying to feed a hungry soybean crop capable of using as much as 280 pounds per acre of nitrogen to make 60-bushel yields. But that isn’t quite the idea I had when putting together this particular trial. I wanted to see how long it takes for soybean nodules to start growing and when they would start to slow fixation of nitrogen on the plant.

Taking that approach, we applied nitrogen at planting and then at R3 to see if we could achieve a quicker start to soybean growth without reducing nodulation early in the season. Then, on the back end, we wanted to see if we could add more bushels at a time when nodules start to reduce activity from R2 to R5.

I want to stress that the idea is not to pour the nitrogen to the soybean plant. In the early season, I tried rates from 10, 20 and 30 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Later in the season, when nodules are starting to reduce activity, rates were higher at 30, 40 and 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre.

Further, sometimes sulfur can be attributed to higher yields at these timings. I wanted to try the same rate of nitrogen (30, 40 and 50 pounds per acre) but use ammonium sulfate to see if there were any added benefits of sulfur at these rates compared to nitrogen alone.

After the season we had, I am eager to see the results. Environment is going to play a major factor as nodulation could have been slowed due to an overabundance of water in the soil profile. While this study is only at our research site in Boonville, Mo., I look forward to the findings and hope to give it another try possibly at both locations in the future.

We’ll share more information and results of this year’s agronomic research in upcoming editions of Today’s Farmer and online at mfa-inc.com.

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Click here to view more articles from the October issue of Today's Farmer magazine.

CLICK HERE TO READ another plot related story from the Aug/Sept 2024 Today's Farmer, Passing the Test.