A previous on-farm demonstration trial, conducted across the state of Georgia from 2018 to 2020, to track nutrient levels in corn showed that late-season tissue nutrient levels correlate better with yield than early-season tissue nutrient levels. Compared with biomass accumulated by corn at maturity, less than 50% of biomass is typically accumulated by the tasseling stage. Except for instances where nitrogen is fed through irrigation systems, all nutrients are usually applied way before the tasseling stage, sometimes as early as the V6 stage. Soils in Georgia are highly weathered with low cation exchange capacity; thus, the potential for nutrient loss, especially mobile nutrients, is high.
The project seeks to evaluate corn response to skipping early-season and/or making late-season application of different nutrient sources, and how that affects overall productivity.
We appreciate the Georgia Corn Commission for funding and Georgia Corn Growers Association; AgriGold; and Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC for providing some resources for the project.
