kickinbull
Well-known member
I am going to be planting some oats, and later millet with a notill drill. I am trying to figure out how & when to put on the fertilizer. What works for you?
kickinbull":czhkjcx4 said:I am going to be planting some oats, and later millet with a notill drill. I am trying to figure out how & when to put on the fertilizer. What works for you?
novatech":2byv4yyw said:Fertilizer in a no-til sounds like a good way to shorten the life of the machine. Rust will eat it up.
I have no idea how much no-till goes on in other areas of the country but around here it is becoming very popular. Everyone that I know using it puts all their fertilizer down with the drill. In my opinion putting the fertilizer down with the drill is the only way to go. I haven't seen broadcast fertilization match the yield that would come from ground where the fertilizer was placed near the seed. I'm not sure what kind of fertilizer is being used but if there's phosphorus involved it needs to be placed where it can be accessed by the roots. Spreading a phosphorus fertilizer is next to worthless. Phosphorus is very immobile. You can get all kinds of rain and it will move very little. On the other hand, something like nitrogen will move very well in the soil and a good rain will take broadcast fertilizer down readily. My concern would be a timely rain so as to eliminate volatization of the nitrogen to the atmosphere. Just a couple things to think about.novatech":310m3170 said:Fertilizer in a no-til sounds like a good way to shorten the life of the machine. Rust will eat it up.
I cannot argue with that. You are correct. My point of view is that at the price of a no-til I would let someone else put the fert in the ground. I don't think Phos is highly corrosive. The N on the other hand will eat up the metal quick. If you are going to use the no-til for fert. I would advise a very good cleaning after use. Followed by spraying down with diesel.novaman":zvbgsysr said:I have no idea how much no-till goes on in other areas of the country but around here it is becoming very popular. Everyone that I know using it puts all their fertilizer down with the drill. In my opinion putting the fertilizer down with the drill is the only way to go. I haven't seen broadcast fertilization match the yield that would come from ground where the fertilizer was placed near the seed. I'm not sure what kind of fertilizer is being used but if there's phosphorus involved it needs to be placed where it can be accessed by the roots. Spreading a phosphorus fertilizer is next to worthless. Phosphorus is very immobile. You can get all kinds of rain and it will move very little. On the other hand, something like nitrogen will move very well in the soil and a good rain will take broadcast fertilizer down readily. My concern would be a timely rain so as to eliminate volatization of the nitrogen to the atmosphere. Just a couple things to think about.novatech":zvbgsysr said:Fertilizer in a no-til sounds like a good way to shorten the life of the machine. Rust will eat it up.