Spring Begins Today - 5 reasons to condition your soil now

Spring Begins Today:
5 reasons to condition your soil now
Harvest doesn’t end the season, it starts it; 5 reasons to condition your soils now

(Louisville) – There’s a saying out in the country that ‘it’s so quiet you can hear the corn grow.” This time of year all you will hear corn doing is settling in the bins. However, if you listen carefully some crisp, calm, autumn night you might just hear the sound of spring field work. No, it is not ringing with tractors and planters, spray rigs and seeders but buzzing with insects and bugs earthworms and bacteria. We refer to the earth as being ‘dormant’ this time of year, but far from dormant, the earth is alive and active; repairing, replacing, and rebuilding so that you can use it again next year to pull in another crop. Many farmers, if they condition their soils at all, either mechanically or chemically do not do so till the spring, but now, before you park the tractor in the barn for another season is the time to capitalize on the prep work that nature is already doing. A better understanding of the science of soil is showing that some of these products do offer some benefit. Joe Dedman, Certified Crop Advisor with Monty’s Plant Food Company in Louisville, offered these thoughts on why using products like Monty’s Liquid Carbon is so critical for the fall.

Before you can begin with any calculation of the value of conditioning you have to know where you are starting and establish a baseline. For that reason Dedmon says, “Soil Testing is critical.” He recommends fall as the best time for this as well because you will know what your needs are ahead of the spring and can plan for them financially. Further, the fall is when you may actually have time to soil test adequately and properly. Too many times we approach spring with the intention of testing but it is too rainy to get into the fields, then when the sunshine does break we are in such a hurry to get things planted on time that it slips off the calendar. Additionally, right now temperatures and moisture levels are moderating which will tend to give the most accurate readings for soil pH and nutrient levels. Finally, by knowing your input needs and plans now you have time to shop around for your inputs so that you can maximize any cost saving that may be waiting. Even if you don’t apply any fertility till the spring by buying it now you can reap huge dividends for your bottom line.

Time - Soil Conditioners especially conditioners which contain humic substances like Monty’s Liquid Carbon provide numerous benefits like improving tilth, reducing compaction and hardpan, improving drainage, improving nutrient exchange and availability but all of these processes take some time to work. By applying it now you will gain at least 4-5 months over applications made 2 weeks prior to planting.

Time pt. 2 - One of the most valuable resources you have is your time. By conditioning now, following harvest, when you generally have more time you can free your production calendar of one more chore this spring. Additionally, Spring weather is unpredictable at best and you can find yourself late into April still hoping to get the fields dry enough to plant, much less to make an extra pass through the field with conditioner.

Water Management - One of the main benefits of humic technology is the ability to assist you in better utilization of water. By applying in the fall, you allow the soil to hold any moisture that falls during the course of the winter, while also opening up the soil profile to provide for better drainage. Imagine a spring where you are not held out of the field by poor draining soils or find yourself planting into dust hoping for a rain shower to get the crop up. Soils conditioned with a humic-based conditioner offer you the opportunity to improve drainage while holding moisture in the seed zone. This can allow for earlier entry into the field without fear of compaction problems or worries about seed rot prior to germination.

Residue Management - No-Till agriculture is no longer the exception; it is the rule. Leaving last year’s crop residue does provide for some undeniable advantages, however, you can still maximize even those results by utilizing humics in your conditioning practices. When you apply a product like Monty’s Liquid Carbon you are not only working to build the soil, but you are activating the microbes, earthworms, arthropods, and small mammals that call the upper seven inches of top-soil ‘home.’ As these elements of the soil ‘community’ are energized, they begin feeding and breaking down the residue more efficiently making the resulting organic matter available sooner and releasing more nutrients into the soil profile ahead of spring planting.
Improved Soil Condition – Improved tilth maximizes aerobic activity, improves water percolation, and movement of nutrients. Improvement of pH levels for optimum seed development and early plant growth should have a positive impact on additional root establishment and photosynthesis. Humics have also shown the ability to reduce compaction, break up hard pan, and improve friability of soils all of which can make your tractor move through the field much more easily thereby reducing time and fuel operating costs.

The key to these changes is doing them before the microbes, earthworms, and microorganisms move deeper into warmer soil, die or become inactive in winter’s cooler soils. By conditioning your soils now, which can be as easy as applying Monty’s Liquid Carbon at 64oz. per acre diluted in 15 gallons of water directly to the soil, you are potentially buying yourself an extra week to two weeks this spring. As we all know, time, especially in modern agriculture, is money. And that is the bottom line; by conditioning your soils, by better preparing your seed beds, and by allowing them to better utilize your inputs and nature’s resources you are maximizing your chances for an optimized bottom line.

“Shhh, if you're quiet enough, out here in the country this time of year you can hear your bank account growing.”

www.montysplantfood.com or call 1-800-978-6342 for more information of fall fertility or soil conditioning practices.