You Don't Want to Wear Stripes - Neither Does Your Corn
Mar 25, 2021
Soon the 2021 spring planting season will be here and the rush that comes with it. Checking on fields last spring, I noticed some zinc deficiencies in certain areas. The areas I noticed especially were the areas where liquid fertilizer was not used and, in some cases, where liquid fertilizer was used but with no zinc in the tank. With that in mind, here are a few points on why zinc in-furrow can greatly help keep that top end yield potential from the beginning.
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NutriSolutions tissue samples consistently show over 80% of tissue samples are deficient in zinc in South Dakota. This is the most deficient nutrient we deal with and addressing zinc deficiency can lead to better yield potential.
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Zinc availability is reduced in cool and wet environmental conditions, meaning planting is a great time to apply a chelated zinc to improve availability early in the season.
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As people push their plant populations, they expect improved yield potential, but that is dependent on all the corn getting out of the ground. Zinc in-furrow improves corn emergence and early season vigor in areas of the country where we plant into cooler and wetter conditions such as the Dakotas.
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Zinc has a positive relationship with phosphorus, meaning mixing your in-furrow zinc with starter fertilizer can improve both inputs’ chances of resulting in a positive yield gain.
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Zinc ultimately improves the plants’ ability to grow. Zinc fertilizer results in greener plants early in the season, and girthy ears at the end of the season.
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?Using in-furrow zinc along with a dry zinc fertilizer, and potentially a foliar zinc, can further improve the season-long availability of zinc.
For questions regarding zinc deficiencies, be sure to visit with your Full Circle Ag Trusted Advisor.
Tim Fieber
?Wilmot Location Manager/Sales Agronomist
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