soil fertility resources for extension agents national association of county agricultural agents...

Soil Fertility Resources for

Extension Agents

National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference

24 July 2006

Cincinnati, OH

Tom Bruulsema, PhDNortheast Director

Potash & Phosphate Institute

PPI/PPIC Member Companies

PPI’s Northeast

Region

Why Educate on Soil Fertility?

Nutrients: Benefits & Risks

Atmosphere

Terrestrial Ecosystems

Aquatic Ecosystems

Human Activities Groundwater Effects

Stream & River Effects

Coastal Effects

Stratospheric Effects

Greenhouse Effects

Energy Production

PM & Visibility

Effects

Ozone Effects

Agroecosystem EffectsNHx

Food Production

NOx

NOx

Crop Animal

People (Food; Fiber)

Soil

NO3

The Nitrogen Cascade

NH3

N2O

N2O--Indicates denitrification potential

Norg

Forests & Grassland

Soil

Galloway & Cowling, 2002

Hypoxic Area in Gulf of Mexico

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

No

Da

ta

15

Hypoxia data by N. Rabalais, LUMCON

Squ

are

mile

s

European Project for Ice Coring in AntarcticaScience 25 November 2005Vol. 310. no. 5752, pp. 1285 - 1287

Greenhouse Gases

N2O

Phosphorus & eutrophication

Improving Nutrient Use Efficiency

Nutrient Removal to Fertilizer Use Ratio for US Grain Corn

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

1964 1974 1984 1994 2004

NP

K

P: 108%

K: 90%

Improvement: %

Corn Yield: 55%

N: 43%

Source: USDA-NASS; PPI

Galloway and Cowling, 2002

2885

Ending Poverty Requires

Fertilizer…

Best Management

Practices

Right rate

Right time

Right place

Who Needs to Know?

• Everyone!• Soil Fertility Specialists• Producers• Policymakers and Regulators• Public – young & old

PPI Publications

• A complete course in soil fertility

• All 17 essential elements

• Color slides• Nutrient deficiency

symptoms

How Potassium Moves in Soil

Elementary Education

Powerpoint Presentations

• Phosphorus Nutrition– Alfalfa– Canola– Corn– Cotton– Wheat

• Potassium Nutrition– Alfalfa– Cotton– Northern Great Plains

Quality for Health

• Agriculture’s connection to food– Take a Closer Look– Fertilizer and Tofu– Functional Foods

research– Fertilizer Impacts on

Quality

Soil Test Levels in North America, 2005

Potash & Phosphate Institute / Potash & Phosphate Institute of Canada Foundation for Agronomic Research

Soil Test Levels in North America, 2005PPI/PPIC/FAR Technical Bulletin 2005-1



Private Laboratories

A&L Analytical Labs, Inc. – Memphis, TNA&L Great Lakes Labs, Inc. – Fort Wayne, INA&L Canada Laboratories, Inc. – London, ONA&L Plains, Ag Lab – Lubbock, TXAgri Analysis, Inc. – Leola, PAAgri-Food Laboratories – Guelph, ONAGVISE Laboratories – Northwood, NDAgriQuanta – St-Ours, QCAgro-Enviro-Sol – La Pocatière, QCAlvey Lab – Belleville, ILBradford Agri Lab – Yazoo City, MSBrookside Lab, Inc. – New Knoxville, OHCooperative Federee de Quebec – Longueuil, QCDairyland Laboratories, Inc. – Arcadia, WIDellavalle Lab, Inc. – Fresno, CAEnviro-Test Labs – Calgary, ABLGI – Ellsworth, IALitchfield Analytical Services – Litchfield, MI

MDS Harris – Lincoln, NEMidwest Laboratories, Inc. – Omaha, NEMowers Soil Testing Plus, Inc. – Toulon, ILNorwest Labs – Edmonton, ABOlsen’s Ag Lab – McCook, NEPrecision Agri-lab – Madera, CARock River Lab – Watertown, WIServi-Tech, Inc. – Amarillo, TXServi-Tech, Inc. – Dodge City, KSServi-Tech, Inc. – Hastings, NESpectrum Analytic, Inc. – Washington Court House, OHStratford Agri Analysis – Stratford, ONStukenholtz Laboratory – Twin Falls, IDSynAgri – St-Hilaire, QCUnited Soils, Inc. – Fairbury, ILWard Laboratories, Inc. – Kearney, NEWaters Agricultural Labs – Camilla, GAWilliam Houde, Ltd. – St-Simon, QC



Public Laboratories

Auburn UniversityClemson UniversityColorado State UniversityCornell UniversityDepartment of Natural Resources – Corner Brook, NLIowa State UniversityKansas State UniversityKentucky Division of Regulatory ServicesLouisiana State UniversityMississippi State UniversityNew Brunswick Department of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentNew Mexico State UniversityNorth Carolina Department of AgNorth Dakota State UniversityOklahoma State UniversityPEI Soil & Feed Testing LaboratoryRutgers UniversitySouth Dakota State University

Texas A&M UniversityThe Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity of ArkansasUniversity of ConnecticutUniversity of DelawareUniversity of FloridaUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of GuelphUniversity of MaineUniversity of MissouriUniversity of NebraskaUniversity of TennesseeUniversity of VermontUniversity of West VirginiaUniversity of Wisconsin, MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin, MarshfieldUtah State UniversityVirginia Tech



Figure 1. Fraction of Samples Analyzed by Specific P and K Soil Tests



Figure 4. Soil test P frequency distribution for North America in 2005.

North America

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 >50Bray P1 equivalent, ppm

Rel

ativ

e,%

2001 2,067,517

2005 3,367,515

2005, %

69.2

12.9

6.0

5.8

2.5

2.1

1.1

0.4

<50

75

100

150

200

300

500

>500

Bra

y P

1 e

qu

iv.,

pp

m North America



Figure 7. Soil test K frequency distribution in 2001 and 2005.

North America

0

5

10

15

20

25

40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 >320Ammonium Ac Equivalent K, ppm

Rel

ativ

e,%

2001 1,976,035

2005 3,332,226



Soil Test Interpretation

• Why not one recommendation for a given soil test level?



96 site-years



Figure 8. Median soil pH levels, 2005.



Figure 11. Percent of soils testing less than 75 ppm Mg.



Figure 12. Percent of soils testing less than 3 ppm S.



Summary

• Approximately 3.4 million samples from 70 laboratories are included in the summary

• Results indicate the importance of regular soil testing because a large number of samples test in or near critical soil test ranges where nutrient recommendations vary greatly

• Median P level is 31 ppm, with 41% of samples for 2005 crop year testing less than 25 ppm

• Median K level is 154 ppm, with 33% of samples testing less than 120 ppm, and 53% less than 160 ppm

• Median pH for U.S. and Canada is 6.3, with 31% of samples testing < 6.0

• Need for soil testing is important to determine fertility status of specific fields

BMPs for

Efficient Fertilizer Use

12 basic tips

Fertilizer BMPs

1. Measure what the soil can provide2. Consider crop removal3. Set realistic yield goals4. Use all nutrient sources available

Fertilizer BMPs

5. Keep the proper balance of nutrients6. Manage soil pH7. Manage for maximum economic yield8. Time applications

Fertilizer BMPs

9. Control release10. Band in the right place11. Test on-farm 12. Consult a credible adviser

PPI Tools on the Web

• www.ppi-ppic.org• Crop Nutrient Response Tool• PKalc• Hybrid Maize• Fertilizer Chooser

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Thank You

soil fertility resources for extension agents national association of county agricultural agents...

Documents

soil slide

qc slide

fertilizer slide

quality slide

elementary education

greenhouse gases n2on2o

nutrient use efficiency

usdanass ppi slide