Spoon Feeding and High Fertilizer Prices
The article "Next Year and Beyond, Challenges for Ag Inputs Realized" appeared on agweb.com on November 15, 2021. This article used a term for fertilization that I had not encountered for many years. The term I am referring to is "spoon feeding" of fertilizer to crops. My first exposure to the term spoon feeding came during the 1970s and 1980s when the agricultural establishment suggested that spoon feeding of crops would only work for use in high value vegetable or fruit crops. In fact, the agricultural establishment suggested spoon feeding of row crops would not be economically acceptable. For example, we were told by soil fertility experts at that time to forget any type of row fertilizer application and proceed with bulk spreading of fertilizer nutrients.
So for me it was very interesting to read the quote by Jeff Tarsi, Senior Vice President of North American Operations at Nutrient Ag Solutions. His quote was, "We use a lot of in-furrow type products today, and that brings economics into the picture. We see more spoon feeding of products than we have done in the past." Therefore, it now seems like the agricultural establishment is condoning a practice that was discredited for many years, and it is interesting that this advice occurs when year over year prices of fertilizer have increased between 80 and 100 percent.
Since 1955, Growers has suggested to farmers they experiment with target fertility so as to learn the science of in-furrow and/or foliar feeding (spoon feeding approaches). Then, if economic conditions create a problem, the producer can "weather the storm." In the early years, Dr. V.A. Tiedjens told farmers that they will never control the price of their product due to competition. Rather, Dr. Tiedjens believed the farmer would only have a profitable operation by controlling the inputs used to control the crop.
By using the Growers Mineral, Corp.'s "Cost and Nutritional Analysis," a producer can determine the most environmentally and economically successful fertility plan, according to both cost and nutrient availability.
This is an excerpt from the Spring Growers Solution (2022) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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