A basic guide to getting the most out of your fertilizer

Soil fertility, plant nutrition and the rational use of fertilizers are fundamental pillars for the sustainability of agricultural production. At the same time that advances in science and technology have created innovative tools for diagnosis and recommendation, the level of complexity for decision-making has increased at the same rate, given the large amount of data and information.

An example of this occurred to me during a chat about fertilization with an extremely technical team that provides consultancy for rural producers. At the end of the presentation, a notice appeared in the “chat” with the following question: “Where should I start and what information is needed to offer the best fertilizer package to my client?” Understanding the complexity of the question, I asked myself what the basic steps would be for recommending efficient fertilizers. After a few days - and sheets and sheets of paper scribbled and crumpled - I came up with 5 basic steps that, if followed, will help a lot in defining criteria and sources of information for decision making.

Step 1 - Understand the whole: Fertilization is a part of the production process and depends on several other factors such as equipment, operational capacity, labor and even the way the rural producer conducts his activity. Just as important as defining what to do is understanding whether everything planned will be able to be executed at the end of the process. Understand how the property works and assess whether there are points of attention or limitations that could negatively interfere with the fertilization process.

Step 2 - Make the diagnosis, with the greatest possible level of detail about what is being done in the area in relation to soil management and known problems or limitations. I always comment a lot on soil analysis, however, I remember that it is not just the chemical characteristics that define the success of fertilization. Understanding whether there are problems related to soil physics such as erosion or compaction or even whether there are imbalances in its biological functions is fundamental information to predict the performance of fertilizers. A healthy soil must allow chemical, physical and biological processes to follow their natural course with the least possible interference, that is, in a sustainable way. Of course! Don't neglect soil sampling: there is no way to make a good recommendation from poor soil sampling and analysis.

Step 3 - Define the interpretation and recommendation criteria. Official Brazilian research has done a wonderful job in recent decades, generating criteria for interpreting nutrient levels in the soil and tables for recommending fertilizers for different crops and regions. These recommendations were created from numerous works on calibrating doses and sources of nutrients in different soils and are an important starting point for defining the fertilizer recommendation criteria. However, like all scientific methods, these have limitations as they are prepared to represent, in some cases, all soils in a state or even entire regions. Therefore, with the help of the tables, define the classes in which the nutrient contents fall (very low, low, medium, high, very high), find the recommended dose for this situation, but be sure to make fine adjustments considering important variables such as productivity expectations, area history, climate forecast for the harvest and, without a doubt, the producer's experience. If you want a little more sophisticated help, remember that there are already electronic tools and applications that help a lot in interpreting and defining doses through very precise algorithms.

Step 4 – With the nutrient doses defined, find fertilizers that fit the needs of your soil and crop. Currently, there are a large number of product options and fertilizer formulations that cover almost all possible combinations of nutrients. Select fertilizers according to the recommendation and, if necessary, adjust doses and management so that they fit very closely with what was planned. Don’t get carried away by the “product that has always been used” or even by the “product that is easier to buy”; remember all the energy, time and dedication that was invested in defining nutrient doses. Look for reliable suppliers that offer options that meet your needs and that have efficient, proven products in their portfolio that facilitate the operation of the property. Products with increased performance and technologies that improve efficiency of use are powerful tools for generating healthier and more productive crops.

Step 5 - Apply and distribute fertilizers in the best possible way. From the moment the fertilizer arrives on the property, the recommendation leaves the paper and goes, literally, into the field. All fertilization planning materializes in products containing nutrients that will be applied with the ultimate aim of correcting the soil and being absorbed by each plant. Regardless of whether your option is to work with a fixed dose of fertilizers, use management zones or even work with applications in variable doses, make sure that what was planned is what is being carried out by the equipment. It is not uncommon to find cases in which the efficiency of fertilization was compromised by a failure to adjust the machines or by poor quality of the products. To avoid making mistakes, remember and always practice the 4 C's (correct nutrient, correct dose, correct place, correct time).

These five steps aim to create a chronology of activities that must be considered to define rational and efficient fertilization. I admit that each of them may take hours and hours of work and reflection and that, at some point, you will not have all the answers and information you need. Anyway, like everything we do in our lives, the more we practice, the more we learn and prepare ourselves for a task. And our mission in relation to fertilization is to do it efficiently, increasing the productivity and sustainability of production.

And it is thinking about making fertilizers in a rational way and respecting the great diversity of soils, cultures and management that makes Mosaic Fertilizers develop and recommend products such as Performa, a line of high-performance fertilizers that combines the most advanced technologies to provide greater fertilizer efficiency and increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of crops. The solution features the best of the company's fertilizer technologies - MicroEssentials, Aspire e K-Mag - containing macro and micronutrients in balanced levels and with immediate and gradual availability, providing high operational performance and effective distribution in the field. All of these characteristics generate increases in nutrient absorption, better crop nutrition and result in increased productivity, for example, for soybean crops of up to eight bags per hectare compared to conventional fertilization.