Eddie Baggs

With phosphorus fertilizer prices pushing $1,200 per ton and nitrogen at $500 per ton, local agriculture producers are reducing applications or not applying any at all.

Those who choose not to use any type of fertilizers, commercial or organic, risk lower production and yields from crops such as wheat, corn, milo or pasture grasses.

The lack of fertilizer applications will also affect long-term soil nutrient levels and increase the occurrence of pasture decline.

To produce a ton of dry forage, each acre of Bermuda grass must absorb approximately 50 pounds of nitrogen, 15 pounds of phosphorus, 42 pounds of potassium and 8 inches of water.

If 4 tons per acre is the annual production goal, then multiply inputs by 4 and that will equal approximately the pounds of nutrients needed.

Of course these inputs will be applied at different intervals throughout the growing season with 30 inches of moisture.

Continued crop removal without fertilizer applications will “mine” the soil until it is unproductive.

Grazing animals will only return part of the nutrients that are needed through manure deposits.

Those producers who choose to fertilize will make the most of their investment with proper timing and placement of nutrients.

Fertilizer applied on the soil surface in dry conditions will result in nitrogen losses into the atmosphere.

Phosphorus moves only small distances (1/4 to 1/2 inch) each year from the point of application, so it tends to accumulate in the top 6 inches of the soil.

Since roots do not absorb nutrients in dry soil and are not active near the surface, top-dress applications should be timed with expected rainfall.

Remember, if you take forage or crops away from the field, either by mechanical methods or grazing animals, the nutrients go with it. Nutrients must be replaced to retain soil fertility and to prevent pasture decline.

EDDIE BAGGS, county extension agent with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Denton County, can be reached at 940-349-2880.