Crop Needs More Fertilizer Help? Foliar Spray!
With the fertilizer mess that is clouding 2022 crop production, a producer could consider the use of foliar feeding. Whether it is from the availability of product or an exorbitant price, many farmers used significantly less fertilizer on their crops than they have used in past years.
So, as the growing season starts to shift into high gear and commodity prices are remaining relatively consistent, many producers are concerned that their crops should receive more fertility nutrition. In the past, the agricultural establishment believed that this type of problem had little to no solution.
Since 1955, Growers Mineral, Corp. encouraged producers to foliar feed mineral elements to their crops as a source of sound nutrition. The foliar feeding discussion in the past centered on supplying mineral elements directly to the plant to satisfy the plant's direct need for plant tissue growth. The plant's need for supplying mineral elements for its tissue growth is a very important part of foliar feeding plants, but as the agricultural establishment recognizes the importance of the microbiological life in the soil, another discussion opens up about foliar feeding of crops.
As the crop grow, it is fed by the symbiotic relationship between it and the microbiological life in the soil. As part of this symbiotic relationship, the plant transports sugars made by photosynthesis to the microbiological life which is present in the rhizosphere that surrounds the roots of the plants. Therefore, any mineral elements that are supplied to the plant through foliar application that the plant may not need directly for its tissue growth can then be transported with the sugars to the plant root zone and rhizosphere which, in turn, can be used directly by the soil microbiological life. This infusion of nutrition to the soil microbiological life improves their performance at feeding the crop important nutrition. The effect of feeding the crop directly and the indirect influence on the soil microbiological life could give the plant enough energy to overcome any environmental stress.
So, if a producer feels they have short changed a crop's fertility needs because of the fertilizer mess, foliar feeding-particularly using GMS-may offer the producer a very important option.
This is an excerpt from the Summer Growers Solution (2022) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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