High Nitrate Levels May Impact Spring Seeding Decisions

Oct 13, 2021

Some farmers are reporting high nitrate (N) levels in the soil.

Cassandra Tkachuk is a production specialist with Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers.

"The high nitrate levels can pose an issue for your N-fixing crops," she commented. "Ideally, you want to see less than 50 pounds per acre of residual nitrate for pulses and soybeans. We recommend putting the high N use crops, like wheat, canola, or corn, on the fields with the greatest levels. When you're considering N-fixing crops on higher nitrate fields, take note on whether they have been grown there recently and if they have nodulated well. Heading into next year, when you're putting these N-fixing crops on those fields, also use inoculant. Also, the volunteer or regrowing crops and any cover crops that might be out there, they will help reduce the levels in some cases by up to 50 pounds per acres, but know that they're also using valuable moisture."

Tkachuk also recommends to retest the soil in the spring, because over the winter and spring, there may have been some leaching and denitrification that helped bring down those levels.

Another caution for farmers to be aware of, is the risk of herbicide carry-over and IDC in soybeans for next year.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.