SNAP

Soil test fertilizer recommendations have long been predicated upon response curves generated from fertility trials across the country. These response curves have been compared to relative yield which provide probability ranges for a response to varying fertilizer inputs. Category responses include very low, low, adequate, high or very high inversely related to probability of a response to various inputs of N, P, and K.

New soil test methods, increases in computing power and access to the internet have enabled us to develop an interactive tool that is based on plant available NPK from both the inorganic fraction of soil and, for the first time, from the soil organic pool as well. The new methods provide an estimate of plant available nutrients that the soil naturally provides, which has largely been ignored for decades.

Since we have access to large datasets we can calculate the amounts of NPK required growing crops in lbs NPK per bu of the desired crop. For example, it requires 100 lbs of N, 50 lbs P2O5, 50 lbs K2O to grow 100 bu corn. These are the base numbers from which we subtract the soil test data after converting from the analytical ppm to Lbs P2O5 or lbs K2O. This is a straight subtraction. It also eliminates the need for “calibration data” since the soil tests reflect the soils inherent fertility. Using the example above, of 100, 50, 50 of N, P, and K required and soil test results of 25, 35, 45 then the fertilizer needed would be 75 N, 15 P2O5 and 5 K2O. This is a simple approach that doesn’t get lost in relative yield-crop response curves that have been used for decades from differing geographical areas.

This tool will include current fertilizer prices, soil test inputs, and crop based county averages for the last 15 years that will predict the chances of making the yield goal the user inputs compared to historical yield data for their county and calculate the fertilizer cost with and without soil testing compared to user input yield goal and county average. This tool will allow the user via the internet to produce a more straight forward approach to realistically planning next year’s fertilizer inputs and associated cost. It will also show the benefits of soil testing for increased fertilizer efficiency and reduced environmental impact.