Features Agronomy Fertility and Nutrients
Establishing a safe rate

Guidelines for establishing a safe rate of seedrow applied nitrogen.

Urea is the dominant source of granular nitrogen fertilizer used on the prairies.
Unfortunately, for growers who want to apply their N requirements in or near
the seedrow, this product can have an adverse effect on seed germination and
crop establishment at higher rates of application. The risk of germination damage
from urea placed in close proximity to the seed also varies significantly with
crop type and soil conditions.

Know the seedbed utilization factor (SBU) for your seeder.

Original guidelines quite restrictive
The original guidelines establishing 'safe' limits for seedrow applied urea
were developed for relatively narrow double-disc openers that placed the seed
and fertilizer close together. Under these conditions, researchers suggest the
amount of urea-based nitrogen that could be placed in the seedrow for cereal
crops be limited to a maximum of 20 to 25lb/ac of N. However, as growers adopted
seed openers that could place seed and fertilizer in wider bands, it has become
obvious that these original seedrow N guidelines were too restrictive.

Increased seedbed utilization
Researchers working at Westco Fertilizers determined that the rate of urea N
that could be safely placed in the seedrow was directly proportional to the
percentage of the total available seedbed utilized (SBU) for placement of seed
and fertilizer. In other words, for a given soil, the wider the seedrows and
the narrower the spacing between seedrows, the greater the amount of urea N
that would be tolerated with the seed. Refer to the table listing the various
types of openers and their estimated ranges of potential seedbed utilization
(see Table 1).

Calculating your SBU
The percent SBU typical of your seeding equipment can be easily calculated if
you can determine the effective width of seed and fertilizer spread that is
achieved by your opener during field operation. For example, an opener could
spread seed and fertilizer over a width of 3.5 inches with a space between the
seed openers of nine inches. The SBU for this opener can be determined by multiplying
the seed spread by 100 (i.e. 3.5in x 100 = 350) and then dividing that value
by the seed opener spacing (i.e. 350 divided by 9in = 39 percent).

Similarly, for an opener that has an effective spread width of two inches and
a row spacing of 10 inches, the SBU is 20 percent. Keep in mind that the degree
of seed spreading can be influenced by soil conditions as well as the speed
of seeding.

Establish soil texture to determine 'safe' upper limit
To use this table of guidelines you must know the correct soil textural grouping
for your land. Many growers still confuse soil colour with texture. In fact,
colour has nothing to do with texture. You can have a dark or a light coloured
soil in any of the three textural groupings included in the table. Basically,
texture is a reflection of the clay content of your soil. The 'Light Texture'
category is not a reflection of soil colour, but rather of a low clay content
and a higher sand content. The higher the clay content, the more N can be tolerated
in the seedrow (see Table 2).

Guidelines apply to favourable seeding conditions
Soil conditions within a field can vary quite considerably. These guidelines
were developed assuming that the crop is being seeded under the following favorable
conditions:

• excellent seedbed moisture,
• soil is free of lime (i.e. eroded knolls),
• soil is free of excessive salts (i.e. saline/alkali patches),
• seeding depth is not excessive,
• seed is of good quality,
• minimal field variability in texture and organic matter content.

'Safe' rate significantly influenced by field variability
Keep
in mind that if the field being seeded is not fairly uniform with respect to
topography as well as soil chemical and physical factors, then it is the poorest
part of the field that is generally most vulnerable to seed germination damage.
Therefore, from a seed safety point of view, unless you are prepared to vary
the rate of seedrow applied N within a field, it will in effect be the poorest
or most vulnerable part of the field that will establish the practical upper
'safe' limit for the field.

The 'safe rate' will depend on the conditions at any location in the field.

Reduce rates by 50 percent if seedbed moisture is
less than ideal
The guidelines contained in the table only apply to seedbeds with ideal moisture
conditions. If the seedbed moisture is less than ideal, the 'safe' upper limit
for application of urea N with the seed must be decreased by 50 percent (i.e.
cut in half) in order to avoid the risk of incurring significant stand damage
and delayed crop maturity.

Caution warranted with more sensitive crops
Oilseed crops such as canola and flax are generally much more sensitive to damage
from seedrow applied nitrogen. Under ideal seedbed moisture conditions, the
'safe' rate for these two crops, is probably in the range of 10 to 20lb/ac lower
than the rates indicated in the table for cereal crops. Other more sensitive
crops include canary seed, mustard and hulless barley.

Growers have exceeded guidelines after experimentation
I must admit that these published guidelines are in fact deliberately cautious
because of the many unknowns that exist in making a recommendation from a distance.
Some growers working soils with a lesser degree of field variability have in
fact been experimenting, with some success, by exceeding these guidelines under
favourable seedbed moisture conditions. However, such a step should only be
considered with caution and only after some experimentation in a small, representative
part of a field. Check the crop carefully for signs of seed damage, delayed
emergence, loss of plant stand, excessive tillering and delayed maturity in
the strips with higher rates of seed applied N. -30-

*John Harapiak has approximately 40 years of western
Canadian based fertilizer related experience. He will continue to contribute
stories to Top Crop Manager. He can be contacted by e-mail at: jharapiak@shaw.ca.