Spectrum Analytic Inc
1087 Jamison Rd
Washington Court House, OH 43160
(800) 321-1562
1087 Jamison Rd
Washington Court House, OH 43160
(800) 321-1562
Knowledge is key to using your analytic results to their fullest. The Spectrum Agronomic Library provides you with useful information that will help you to better understand the complex science of agronomy. Our agronomists will be continually adding original and reprinted articles, so check the library regularly for new information.
Managing manure for optimum economic crop production with minimum environmental impact requires a knowledge of the manure's nutrient content. While standardized or “book” values listing average nutrient contents of manure are available, they are of little value to an individual farmer because of large variation among different manure storage and handling systems. Thus, regular manure analysis is recommended for the accurate determination and optimum management of manure nutrients.
Because the nutrient content of manure often varies within a manure storage it is recommended that, at least once, several samples be collected as the storage is emptied. These samples could be collected once every so many loads or when there are obvious changes in the consistency of the manure. The objective is to get an indication of the variation in nutrient content that occurs and use this to adjust management. For example, in liquid storages there is often a “sludge” layer near the bottom that is difficult to agitate and is thus very different in nutrient content and even availability. With knowledge of this difference, rates could be adjusted in the future when this material is spread.
Research conducted at Penn State University by Doug Beegle shows the total N from different depths of a liquid manure storage facility are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. An example of N variability often found in liquid manure storage systems.
Spectrum Analytic offers several manure analysis packages plus additional individual analyses to meet your special needs.
Interactions between plants, nutrients, and disease pathogens are very complex and not completely understood. Nutrition, although frequently unrecognized, has always been a primary component of disease control. Most soils and environments where plants are cultivated contain an abundance of disease pathogens. On the most basic level, plants suffering a nutrient stress will be less vigorous and more susceptible to a variety of diseases. In this respect, all nutrients affect plant disease. However, some nutrient elements have a direct and greater impact on plant diseases than others. This paper discusses the more significant nutrients and their interactions with disease.
Disease resistance in plants is primarily a function of genetics. However, the ability of a plant to express its genetic potential for disease resistance can be affected by mineral nutrition. Plant species or varieties that have a high genetic resistant to a disease are likely to be less affected by changes in nutrition than plants only tolerant of diseases. Those that are genetically highly susceptible will likely remain susceptible with nutritional regimes that greatly improve the disease resistance in less susceptible or tolerant plants. As Dr. D. M. Huber states “It is clear that the severity of most diseases can be reduced and the chemical, biological, or genetic control of many plant pathogens enhanced by proper nutrition”. Fertilizer recommendations are developed to optimize nutrient uptake and provide the crop with adequate nutrients for normal growth and yield. In most situations, this level of nutrients will also be sufficient to enable the crop to maximize disease resistance. However, there are cases where nutrient applications higher than needed for optimum growth can result in improved disease resistance.
Wheat production is an important crop in many areas. In the early years of agriculture it was used as a livestock feed, in the production of flour, but the straw was also used as a bedding material. As the need for bedding materials started to decline, the advent of more concentrated livestock operations as well as the limited research to increase yields and declining prices many growers began to drop wheat from the rotation.
In the 1990's, there was a new look taken at wheat. Improvements were made in varieties which allowed applications of more nitrogen for higher yields and there was a market for higher protein content in wheat. These improvements have lead to an increase in demand for wheat which has led to a higher market price and more wheat being planted.
With these improvements, there has been an increase in the demand for higher management of the wheat. One of these high management demands is being able to identify the stage of growth. Stage of growth is important in application of fungicides, herbicides as well as split fertilizer applications.
The purpose of this pictorial guide is to help the reader better and more accurately identify the stage of growth at a particular time during the growing season. As an added benefit, we have added the part of the plant which should be sampled as well as the amount of plant material to submit when sending in a plant analysis. Plant analysis is a very important part of high quality and high yield wheat production. It can help the consultant, field agronomist, and grower better identify the plants nutrient needs long before they can be seen with the human eye. Remember, once you can see the deficient nutrient the yield and quality of the crop has been affected. Plant analysis can also be a useful tool in planning future fertility programs in all crops. Chances are if a nutrient is deficient in the present crop, it will be deficient in future crops.
Wheat Stages of Growth (859KB)
As consultants and people that do work for growers, you need to be compensated for your time and expenses. In the early days of the fertilizer business soil sampling, field scouting, delivery of seed and fertilizer were considered services and much of the time dealers did not charge extra. In today's business world, these services need to be charged for. How many times have you gone to the doctor and he offered to do your blood work or x-ray work for free? Is your business any different? Why should you do soil sampling or delivery product without payment, after all there is the expense to your business for the equipment, person doing the service and the service itself.
In the February 2005 issue of the AgProfessional, David Asbridge wrote a very informative article with some of the rates that are being charged to growers by the different farm service companies. Rather than rewrite the article, we are providing a link to the original article.
What Do Ag Professionals Charge for Their Services
Posted with permission by AgProfessional magazine. Copyright by Doane Agricultural Services Co.