Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Completed Competitive Grant

Fertilizer placement for ridge-till and no-till systems

Project ID: 1995-55

Abstract

Uncertainty about cost-effective methods of broadcast vs. subsurface fertilizer application and soil test interpretation for ridge-till and no-till systems may be a major factor in the slow adoption or abandonment of these systems by Iowa farmers. Broadcast fertilizer is cheaper than banding, but seems inefficient because fertilizers are not incorporated (no-till) or incorporated too late (ridge-till) for plant needs. From a soil and water quality perspective, the lack of incorporation of fertilizers, especially phosphorus fertilizer, could hamper system benefits in reducing nutrient losses in water runoff because, although reduced, the runoff contains more soluble nutrients.

Lead investigator: Antonio P. Mallarino, ISU Agronomy

Year of grant completion: 1998

This competitive grant project was part of the Leopold Center's Initiative.

Topics: Nutrient management