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Tissue sampling reveals nutrient deficiencies

Tissue sampling of corn and soybeans by WinField United showed that in-season plant stress may have led to nutrient deficiencies.

Ohio-based Joe Rickard says corn was deficient in zinc and nitrogen across the state.

“Around 80 percent of our corn crop was deficient in zinc and nitrogen,” he says. “The zinc piece is kind of puzzling, but the nitrogen is not as surprising because of all the moisture we had this year.”  

He says there were similar results in Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

Soybean samples in Ohio showed low levels of manganese, potassium, and sulfur.  

“Too much water is never a good thing and it’s almost like cleaning that potash out, and the sulfur piece when we think of the same way as nitrate being readily leachable, sulfate sulfur in the soil is also readily leachable,” he says. “We’ve seen that soil profile being washed away on some of those nutrients a little bit.”

Rickard says the samples taken in 2019 can help farmers plan for 2020.

“We can’t do anything about the excessive rain we got, but trying to make better, more precise nutrient applications helps,” he says.

The WinField United sampling database includes more than 600,000 data points that help identify nutrient trends. WinField United recommends that farmers tissue sample and reevaluate fertilization plans annually and throughout the growing season.

Audio: Joe Rickard, WinField United