Soil pH maintenance helps maximize yield benefits

by | Nov 12, 2020 | 5 Ag Stories, News

The rapid harvest has given producers in Iowa plenty of time for fall field work. Calcium Products is promoting the benefits of maintaining soil pH at a consistent level to maximize yield potential every year.

Growers are encouraged to consider a soil pH maintenance program. The intent of such a program is to create a pH stable environment. Andrew Hoiberg, vice president of research and development at Calcium Products, says a good portion of nutrient uptake occurs in the top three to four inches of the soil. As those nutrients transform, acidification happens.

?pH is something that we really should be paying attention to on a more frequent basis,? Hoiberg said. ?If we keep the pH where it needs to be on a consistent basis, that?s really going to help us maximize our nutrient utilization and maximize that yield environment. If we do it the traditional way, we?re going to be suboptimal in a couple of years of that cycle. Being more proactive about it makes a lot of sense in terms of maximizing that yield environment.?

Hoiberg says the goal is to create a proactively managed nutrient uptake zone by using more frequent, lower rate applications of 98G. This allows producers to concentrate applications to consistently maximize yield.

?We have seen anywhere between 6 or 7 bushels on the low end, and all the way up to 14 or 15 bushels in some of the research trials we?ve done here in just the last couple years with those 200-300 pound per acre maintenance rates,? Hoiberg said. ?Those are typically applied every other year in a corn/bean rotation because, obviously, we aren?t putting out nitrogen with our soybean crop. We?re really trying to offset that nitrogen from the corn fertility program. We?ve been seeing very good consistent yield benefits with a good ROI to the grower from doing just that.?

For more information on 98G or the process of maintaining soil pH, visit calciumproducts.com.