Research Report: Corn Starter Impacts Early Season Plant and Soil Properties

 

Starter fertilizers are used by producers to help overcome wet and cool soils often encountered with early planted corn. Early planted corn in no-tilled fields and limited drainage typically have the greatest chance of response from starter fertilizers. Starter fertilizers can range from a mixture of UAN, ammonium polyphosphate (APP), and other fertilizers to low salt (LS) formulations containing N, P, K and various micronutrients. Some that promote LS starter fertilizer products claim that UAN and/or APP contain salts at levels that will inhibit seed germination, growth and ultimately yield, even at low use rates. This study was conducted to determine the influence of starter fertilizer combinations and rates on corn emergence, growth, electrical conductivity, grain moisture, and grain yield. Corn (AgriGold AG6472) was planted on 6 June, 2019 with a four row Precision™ planter. Starter fertilizer was applied in-furrow at planting with a Surefire injection pump system. Treatments included UAN, APP, and a LS starter at 2.5 and 5.0 gallons per acre (gpa), 5.0 gpa mixture of UAN and APP, and an untreated control. All response variables were collected from the middle two rows of each plot.

 

 

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.