With silage harvest coming up quickly, manure application will soon follow. Because silage is often the first crop to come off the field, it allows for earlier manure application and thus an earlier cleanout of pens before winter. As that manure application plan develops, include best stewardship practices for optimum rates and preferred application methods in final decisions. But, wait, what do those things mean?

Agronomic rates consider what future crops will need. They are generally based on one nutrient. That may mean some of the other nutrients will be applied in excess of crop needs and others will leave the crop deficient if not supplemented with other fertilizer. Your optimum rate may be an agronomic rate, but it may be somewhere in between the two most common: nitrogen and phosphorus. 

In this article, Leslie Johnson, Nebraska Extension's animal manure management educator, breaks down the difference between nitrogen and phosphorus rates and how to choose the best method for your operation. 

Read the full article on UNL Water