EXACTRIX SDX Winter Wheat

Record Hard Red Winter Wheat (HRWW) yields were generated by Ron Swindler and Rick Poehls at Mott, ND in 2005 using the SDX as an established winter wheat side dressing tool in the spring.

Ron and Rick rented an SDX in the fall of 2004....just to test it out and seed winter wheat with seed row 11-52-0. They were impressed with the stands. No nitrogen was placed obviously.

Ron had been using the Flexicoil 6000 with Barton openers which were considered too aggressive in lighter soils...he was ready to trade.

Ron contacted Exactrix in November, 2004 and wanted the SDX to band high pressure liquid NH3 like the Deere....Ron studied both Deere 1890 and decided on the SDX...blade diameter and simplicity were key factors and 10" spacing was determined to be more efficient from the serviceability standpoint.

The SDX 7.5 spacing was considered non-serviceable by Ron and Rick. The machine was just too tight. There was not a significant yield advantage with Exactrix fertilizer placement.

Delaying NH3 application based on a great stand allows the winter wheat to be more winter hardy....A technique long known to improve winter hardiness is to delay nitrogen to a spring top dress application.

Placed phosphate is known to improve winter hardiness and nitrogen detracts from winter hardiness....The cell wall elongates with fall nitrogen applications reducing the thickness of the cell wall which will break under cold winter wind temperatures and thus desiccate the plant...... while phosphate applications in the seed row or with Exactrix Wing Injection using 10-34-0 and Thio-Sul does just the opposite.....

Ron did side dress his winter wheat with the Exactrix liquid NH3 in late March....the openers were set at seeding depth. The Coop told Ron it could not be done....the field would needed to be top dressed with Urea....on a high pH soil. The Coop informed Ron that he would destroy the stand. Ron went ahead with the Exactrix SDX application and discovered less than 1% damage to the stand. In fact when I reviewed the field in June you could not see where he had been and the crop had outstanding color.

Ron produced a record yield with around 50 pounds of N on this particular field. About half the normal rate for winter wheat in his area....that is about $15.00 per acre in reduced input cost and a record yield....maybe $40 to $50 per acre advantage. The SDX application cost is about $7.00 per acre...so a 2 to 1 return based on risk and a 5 to 1 return based on yield. Top dressed Urea can not compete with placement and uniformity of application....The top dressed Urea application would have cost $20 per acre with a reduction in yield potential due to Urea's low uniformity of application.

Plus.... Ron had one other advantage....he played his Ace card.... based on a spring stand of winter wheat...No freeze out and now he could commit....If the farm program changed during the winter, or the markets changed.... or the crop winter killed he would not loose his N investment and could move to a legume and readjust his rotation.

Remember as Jim Schepers says, "The soil is a lousy place to store nitrogen". You can not store nitrogen in the soil and the timing is so key to get maximum uptake....So nitrogen use efficiency can be improved from 50% to 90%..... with timing or side dressing, Exactrix high pressure, uniform..non-sinusoidal flow.... of liquid NH3....and shallow placement with SDX single disc openers..... at 8 to 10 mph ground speeds.

The fertilizer dealer will tell the producer that he can store nitrogen in the soil....the scientist will tell you that you can not store synthetic nitrogen in the soil....Only OM can store nitrogen.

The rub comes from the fertilizer industry....the fertilizer industry has very little storage capacity to promote timing which would allow the producer to use less and raise more.....The fertilizer industry is one of the problems in getting top production economics. The advice the fertilizer dealer gives favors his costs more than the producers.....The customer profitability should always come first.....this is called service....the only thing the fertilizer dealer has to sell that is unique is service. Nutrients are commodities at a structured market price....you are buying service first.

A little history.

In the PNW the practice of side dressing winter wheat was tried in the 50's using shank openers applying pressure reducing anhydrous ammonia to established winter wheat in the spring.....the practice showed promise and crop responded initially....but the extreme tillage of the 6" depth shanks shattered the soil and broke the roots open....Thus Cercosperllea and Cephlapsporium fungus stripe destroyed the yield potential. The technique failed due to tillage. Different shank spacings were tried.....but it was the tillage that reduced the yield.

Never forgotten that there was a promise to use timing and low soil disturbance ....the technique was implemented with Yielder NH3 placement drills in Kentucky Blue Grass Production in 1982 and 1983....Bluegrass yields increased about 200 pounds per acre...but the difficulty was the economics....the Bluegrass price was very low and the machinery requirement and the late fall timing offset the practice and economics. Ammonium Nitrate was cheap....so top dressing won out.

In 2005 with no AN or ANS......Bluegrass fertilization can greatly benefit with the SDX using uniform NH3 application and the Exactrix with shallow opener settings........there is 30,000 acres in production..... the producers have the need to place low cost NH3 into sod and will now move to placement.

The practice of side dressing winter wheat was implemented from time to time over the last 20 years in experiments using Yielder drills....especially when spring wheat joined winter wheat fields.

Coastal pastureland received the treatment with great results. In fact some drills were set up to apply nutrients and seed winter annual crops into established winter dormant pastures.... up to 6,000 acres per year of pasture land in Texas with Yielder drills....the production was more than doubled with no-tillage and the producer....a big cattleman, increased his winter and summer pasture land carrying capacity from 6,000 head to 14,000 head. Go figure the production economics on this advancement.....take what you have and do better with it.

Reconsidered........Side Dressing Winter Wheat.........A confirmed practice with great economics.

Exactrix Nitrogen should be delayed to spring application timing at HRWW or Soft White Winter Wheat SWWW tillering or just prior to tillering.

Risk goes down. Yields improve. Nitrogen remains in the top 18 inches of the soil profile.

Flexibility is greatly increased....poor stands can be taken out and the rotation changed....."you get to roll the dice twice with winter wheat."

The SDX has lower operating cost than the Deere 1890 with less soil disturbance. Shallow placement stops the tillage and Exactrix drives the NH3 about 2" deeper into the soil profile based on 300 psi injection pressures.

Why Does Side Dressing Winter Wheat Work So Well?.....Can It Be Improved?

Remember 70% of the elongated winter wheat root system is in the top 18". Thus mobile nitrate nitrogen located below the 18" soil depth is not efficient. The crown roots are the big feeders and prefer ammonic nitrogen....the seminals harvest moisture to a depth of 6 to 9 feet depending on the soil type. Mobile nitrate is never preferred by the growing crop..."The nitrate is just not, as plant efficient, as ammonic nitrogen".....TVA, Bert Bach....1983.

The longer the nitrogen is in the ground the greater the risk becomes.....and no flexibility to rotate.

The NH3 bands are very dilute on 10" band spacing....about 1 pint of NH3 is applied in 750 feet of travel or 2.5 football fields....So root burning and pruning is minimal....Plus the NH3 is applied as a liquid and is driven deeper into the soil profile.

Less is More....Nitrogen is the most overapplied nutrient....because the material can become mobile and can not be soil stored. The timing of the application produces the best economics. The research Algorithm for plant nitrogen use, which was developed in the 60's and 70's, is not correct when timing is used and Exactrix precision placement is implemented.....a technique that can not be accomplished with dry sinusoidal placed Urea.

The best practice is yet to be determined.

An educated guess is to apply only APP/ATS at time of seeding with Exactrix Wing Injection...establish the crop with non mobile P in direct relation to the seminal roots to drive the winter hardiness upward.

Observe the winter wheat stand in the spring....if the stand is poor move to a legume and raise nitrogen.

If the stand is great....place Exactrix NH3 at half normal rates...if protein is desired add ATS to the mix and go for protein and yield.

Will Side Dressing Work With Spring Wheat?

Absolutely and maybe even better than what you might think....time the NH3 and the ATS to raise protein and keep the ammonic N high in the soil profile....crown roots add more to protein than seminal roots....time proven. Do a split application....half the N at seeding and half at side dress.

Solution 32 and 28 is expensive and it burns the wheat leaf and causes the plant to elongate and tip over. You are dealing with mobile nitrate...not good. Urea is not a top performer....Only 50% of nitrogen applied can be used by the growing crop when Urea is top dressed. Don't forget those drought years....placement always wins and produces the highest yields.

Side dress spring wheat at 3 to 6 leaf.

Apply at lower rates. Make sure ATS is used with NH3 to stabilize the band and raise protein.

Add a sprayer boom to the SDX and control broadleaf and grassy weeds as you side dress spring or winter wheat. Timing is everything in crop production. Maybe even a fungicide rust treatment would be timely.

A Final key point.

Cheat grass and wild oats are much more efficient with nitrogen than wheat. Delay the nitrogen.....side dress and see great results into established winter wheat and spring wheat. An established canopy with a competitive edge with a split application....only the growing crop can use the soil placed, growing crop, leveraged nutrients.

Add APP to the mix and wild oats will not perform....remember oats have no need for placed P and placed P can actually be used to enhance weed control since oats do not like placed P. John Walker, Ricks College discovered this aspect of weed control 20 years ago...wild oats hate placed P. Surface applied, nitrate based 32 and 28, allow wild oats to outcompete wheat.

Time Proven....Placed, Uniform, non-sinusoidal, Exactrix liquid NH3 is always the winner.

Guy Swanson

ASABE, ASA, ASM, WSDA Certified

Exactrix Global Systems

Spokane.


Side dress winter wheat, 10 inch, Ron Swindler, Mott, ND	DNS Wheat 7.5 inch, Loren Vander Vorste, Pollock, SD

Spring peas 10 inch, Ron Swindler, Mott, ND	Mercury Spring wheat, 10 inch, Ron Swindler, Mott, ND

Spring wheat, NH3 tank empty, 10 inch, Ron Swindler, Mott, ND	SDX Single disc, Exactrix liquid NH3 injection.


Dual Exactrix manifold utilized in custom seeding.	Spring Canola, 15 inch, Exactrix SDX, Kevin Black, ND


Deere 1890 Exactrix wing injection, dual product compared.	Case SDX Exactrix wingless injection dual product.

Case SDX with firming wheel removed. Dual product Exactrix wingless injection.


Case SDX 40 feet, 10 inch row space, 49 openers.	The Exactrix engine group is properly mounted on the seeder tongue.


Side dress winter wheat, 10 inch, Ron Swindler, Mott, ND Record yield with Exactrix SDX injection	Less than 1% wheat stand damage to established winter wheat. Photo taken June, 13 2005


Exactrix injection line mounting.	Business end view of Exactrix injection.


Richard Lutz, Regent, ND	Wingless liquid injection of NH3.