The right nutrient source can avoid the “Summer Slump”

July 30, 2024

The right nutrient source

In the North Region, May turned out to be a soggy month with above-average rainfall, which made it difficult to harvest the first cutting of alfalfa. Either you cut your crop to have it rained on or your first cutting was delayed due to excess moisture. No matter what bucket you fell into, the yield and quality may not have been what you hoped for.

Source: High Plains Regional Climate Center

As we approach the 2nd and 3rd cutting of this year’s alfalfa crop, I wanted to share a couple of ideas to increase forage quality and yield.

Alfalfa has a very long taproot root system that can penetrate 20-plus feet under the right conditions. This root system is important for storing and providing the energy needed to regrow after a cutting. When we enter the month of July alfalfa can begin to slow down in growth reducing the quality and yield, this is known as the “Summer Slump”. Many factors influence the summer slump, including daytime/nighttime temperatures, the increase of respiration decreasing photosynthesis, and root reserves being depleted and not restored with a decrease of photosynthesis.

Foliar feeding alfalfa is one way to overcome the “Summer Slump.” You can apply key nutrients that focus on increasing photosynthesis allowing the plant to grow larger leaves and increase plant height which influences crop quality and yield. Alfalfa responds well to foliar applications of nutrients and is best to apply when the crop is 6” tall after a cutting.

The nutrients I focus on to increase alfalfa quality and yield late season are P, K, S, and B. Nachurs Triple Option or Nachurs K-flex would be great options paired with a micronutrient mix like Nachurs Finish Line or Nachurs MoneyBall. The key to foliar feeding is making sure Bio-K is in the tank to maximize the plant's ability to absorb the nutrients. Bio-K is Nachurs patented liquid potassium technology, which is found in Nachurs Triple Option, K-flex, and Finish Line. The Bio-K is responsible for many processes within the plant, and I feel it plays a vital role in photosynthesis. MoneyBall is a micronutrient mix built for legumes like alfalfa that contains B, Cu, Mo, Mn and marine macroalgae extract to help nitrogen fixation and nitrogen utilization within the plant.

If you are looking to avoid the “Summer Slump: and improve your alfalfa’s quality and yield, try applying Nachurs Liquid fertilizer in between cuttings this summer.

Chad Smith, Sales Agronomist US North

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Post-Harvest Reflections

December 12, 2024

We are at the point in the year where things are slowing down around the farm and it is time to reflect on the season to remind ourselves what we learned. Over the last couple of weeks, the District Sales Managers and I have spent some time reflecting on what worked well in the field and the challenges we faced too. Here are the top 5 things we learned from 2024 growing season: #1 Split applying Nitrogen and Sulfur is a practice that should be embraced on a yearly basis when growing corn. Do you remember how the planting season started and what happened in the first 60 days after the planters started rolling? Our field conditions started out dry with some areas of the corn belt showing up on the drought map. Then mother nature blessed us with rain that never stopped in some areas making it difficult to finish planting. Growers that had split applied their Nitrogen and Sulfur were able to avoid nutrient loss from the rain but also apply the nutrients when the crop needed it most. In the end yield was better on split applied nitrogen fields compared to fields that had all the N applied in the fall or spring before planting. #2 For the past 2 seasons in the North region, we have seen the benefits of adding NACHURS Humi-Flex FA to the in-furrow starter fertilizer. NACHURS Humi-Flex FA is our fulvic acid and it is becoming a valuable component in our starter fertilizer for many reasons. We are using it to chelate the nutrients in the starter fertilizer especially phosphorus. Humi-Flex FA also buffers the soil pH to neutral in that nutrient band keeping nutrients available in fields that have less then optimal pH for crop growth. Finally, we use Humi-Flex FA to create a healthy soil microbiome that leads to more root mass and nutrient uptake. #3 Nutrient uptake charts for corn and soybeans have been a great tool for our team to help our customers visualize the crops nutrient needs based on timing during the growing season.