A new way of applying fertilizer.
“According to many surveys we’ve done, farmers are adopting new planting and harvesting systems and seeing the benefits of them.” Those words come from Hans Kok, an Extension Specialist for Conservation Tillage at both Washington State University and the University of Idaho. But that’s not the end of the story. Hans is a proponent of the no-till system of farming and discusses a twist in fertilizer application. He says new types of equipment, while planting seed… also puts fertilizer with that seed. That is one of the strengths of the no-till system is that we put a fertilizer underneath the ground, it’s called banding. Years of university research have shown that if you place your fertilizer under the seed and a little bit to the side, you get much better fertilizer utilization, your chances of getting any run-off of the fertilizer into streams and waterways is reduced dramatically because now your fertilizer is underneath the ground and it’s just a much better way to handle your fertilizer, especially in a market where fertilizer prices are fluctuating like crazy.
