Evaluation of Phosphorus Source and Chelate Application as Starter Fertilizer in Corn

The differences between common phosphorus (P) fertilizers as a starter in corn production have been studied for many years. However, little research has been conducted showing which P fertilizer sources are most effective with varying compositions of ortho- and poly-phosphate. The objectives of this study were to evaluate three commercially available P fertilizers, 0-16-19, 10-34-0, and 0-18-18 (N-P2O5-K2O) as starter band with and without the addition Cee*Quest-70 (CQ-70), a glucoheptonate chelate. The study was conducted at two locations, Scandia and Rossville, in 2014 and 2015. Experimental design was a randomized, complete block with four replications and a factorial treatment arrangement. Whole plant corn tissue samples were taken at V-6 and weighted for biomass. Tissue samples were analyzed for P. Yield, V-6 biomass, and V-6 P uptake were analyzed for treatment differences. Results show that there were no yield differences between P fertilizers with or without the addition of CQ-70. Phosphorus fertilizer was found to have a significant effect on P V-6 tissue concentration at the Rossville location. However, there was no effect on P uptake. Fertilizer source was found to have a significant effect on V-6 biomass and P uptake

Evaluating the Interaction Between Chelated Iron Source and Placement on Phosphorus Availability in Soybean

In agriculture, chelating agents are used to supplement micronutrients, such as iron (Fe). However, little research has been conducted at the field-scale level to evaluate chelating agent effects on phosphorus (P). The objectives of this study were to evaluate three commercially available chelated Fe sources on early soybean growth and nutrient uptake. The study was conducted at six locations in 2014 and 2015. The experimental design was a randomized, complete block with a factorial treatment arrangement. The two factors included fertilizer source and fertilizer placement. The fertilizer sources were P only, EDTA-Fe, HEDTA-Fe, and one glucoheptonate product, Cee*Quest N5Fe758 (CQ-758), with two fertilizer placements, in-furrow with seed contact and surface band at planting. Results show soybean yield was affected by chelate source and placement. Greater yields occurred with application in-furrow at Scandia in 2014 and 2015, but in-furrow was superior at Rossville in 2015. Increased yields also occurred with applications of EDTA and HEDTA. However, further analysis of tissue and grain may show chelate effects on nutrients

Response to Mixing Wheat Seed with Fertilizer in the Drill at Planting

Mixing dry phosphorus (P) fertilizer with winter wheat seed is common in Kansas to provide a starter fertilizer benefit to the crop. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of dry P sources, rates, and times fertilizer mixed with wheat seed, effects on early growth and overall productivity and yield of the crop. Two winter wheat studies were conducted in the 2018–2019 wheat growing season at Manhattan (site 1) and Topeka (site 2) Kansas. The previous crop for site 1 was soybean and corn at site 2. The winter wheat was no-till drilled at 70 lb/a and mixed with either diammonium phosphate (DAP) (18-46-0) or Micro-Essentials SZ “MESZ” (12-40-0-10S-1Zn) rates of 30, 60, and 120 lb P2O5/a. Mixing times in which wheat seed was in contact with the fertilizer were 0, 12, 28, and 40 days. The winter wheat was drilled in October and November and top-dressed with 100 lb N/a using UAN 28% at green-up in the spring. The overall trends observed in these preliminary results suggest that either P fertilizer source can be stored for a prolonged period of time with no negative impact, and producers can avoid the economic expenses of replacing the seed-fertilizer blend

Modelling the behaviour of microbulk Micromegas in Xenon/trimethylamine gas

We model the response of a state of the art micro-hole single-stage charge amplication device (`microbulk' Micromegas) in a gaseous atmosphere consisting of Xenon/trimethylamine at various concentrations and pressures. The amplifying structure, made with photo-lithographic techniques similar to those followed in the fabrication of gas electron multipliers (GEMs), consisted of a 100 um-side equilateral-triangle pattern with 50 um-diameter holes placed at its vertexes. Once the primary electrons are guided into the holes by virtue of an optimized field configuration, avalanches develop along the 50 um-height channels etched out of the original doubly copper-clad polyimide foil. In order to properly account for the strong field gradients at the holes' entrance as well as for the fluctuations of the avalanche process (that ultimately determine the achievable energy resolution), we abandoned the hydrodynamic framework, resorting to a purely microscopic description of the electron trajectories as obtained from elementary cross-sections. We show that achieving a satisfactory description needs additional assumptions about atom-molecule (Penning) transfer reactions and charge recombination to be made

Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome Influenced by Macronutrient Fertility on Irrigated Soybeans in a Corn/Soybean Rotation

The effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) fertilization on a corn/ soybean cropping sequence were evaluated from 1983 to 2016, with corn planted in odd years. There was a negative relationship between the P rate applied during the corn years and the severity of sudden death syndrome (SDS) in 2014 and 2016 soybean

Interaction of Seeding and Nitrogen Rate on Grain Sorghum Yield in Southwest Kansas

This study compared drilled planted sorghum at four seeding rates to planted sorghum at three different nitrogen (N) fertility levels at two locations in southwest Kansas (Garden City and Tribune). At the Garden City location, no difference was observed in yield among the drilled seeded sorghum populations greater than 27,000 seeds/a compared to the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 27,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing). At Tribune, there was no difference in yield between the drilled sorghum and the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 40,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing) regardless of seeding rate. Nitrogen fertilizer did not interact with seeding rate or affect yield independently at either location. The use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to assess canopy coverage suggested that planted sorghum and drilled sorghum at population greater than 40,000 seeds/a may achieve canopy coverage at a faster rate. In general, nitrogen rate and seeding rates did not affect sorghum yield. However, we did observe that drilled planted sorghum was more at risk of irregular stand emergence and required a higher seeding rate to achieve canopy closure at a rate similar to that of planted sorghum