Many farmers I know have been asking this question: As nitrogen prices have gone up, should we be cutting back on winter triticale fertilization?
My answer is simple: No!
Research has found that crude protein produced by N accounts for only one-third or one-fourth of the cost of getting that protein through soybean meal in the grain mix. Shortening nitrogen fertilizer on winter triticale will end up costing you more because soybean meal is more expensive.
The question is, what’s the most economical way to provide that N in the first place? Manure is a great option, but it all depends on how it is applied.
You need N
Research shows how nitrogen plays a pivotal role in growing high-quality winter forage.
For example, fall N is critical to maximize fall tillering as it sets spring yield potential. Spring is when N (and even sulfur) is applied for maximum yield and high crude protein in winter triticale.
A 4-ton-per-acre yield with 18% crude protein (commonly seen in Pennsylvania and Ohio on south) removes 230 pounds of N per acre. By comparison, in New York, a 3.5-ton-per-acre yield at 18% crude protein will remove about 200 pounds of N.
If the nitrogen is not there, the crude protein and yield will not be there.
But watch how it’s applied
Dairy farms have an advantage in that they have a lot of manure that can meet their crop nitrogen and sulfur needs. But just throwing it out there will mean most of it will be lost in the atmosphere.
An absolute disaster is to topdress manure on growing triticale in fall. Not only do you lose most of the nitrogen, but the manure will also stay in the forage as it grows the next spring and will get harvested when you mow. Highly digestible forage with manure mixed in it is a disaster; it will kill the cows.
Fortunately, there’s another solution: manure injection units.
Early units were knife units that injected well but tore up the soil, left stones on the surface and required more horsepower to pull. Surface-dribbling units were also exposed to considerable loss.
More recent manure injection units have rolling coulters that operate at an angle, lift the soil, and inject the manure into the slot and then cover it again. There is little, if any, root damage when the plants are lifted and are placed back in the soil.
When we applied at a 16- to 17-inch spacing, the nitrogen spread in the soil, and there were uniform green stands the next spring. At the slight angle and by watching forward speed, few — if any — stones were brought up. We need to watch forward speed to apply enough manure N to meet the needs of the crop.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 gallons of manure per acre is common to meet a winter triticale forage crop’s N need, so long as it’s been planted on time with starter N and proper seed treatment. Some with more diluted manure have applied up to 20,000 gallons an acre. These are justified, environmentally sound rates.
Timing is critical
The soil needs to be 50 degrees F or less when the manure is injected, so the ammonia stays in that form. The positive charge of ammonia attaches to the soil’s negative charge, and will not leach or denitrify. Only after the soil temperature goes above 50 degrees will the ammonia convert to nitrate that the plant then takes up.
As winter triticale often starts growing at 40 degrees, this means the crop is growing as soon as the N becomes available. This is a very efficient, environmentally sound application method. You can unload a lot of manure in November, December or January.
Another advantage
The added advantage of this system has been proven by Quirine Ketterings, a professor of ag systems nutrient management at Cornell.
She has conducted replicated research on growing a full corn crop with just injected manure. After harvesting the triticale in spring, manure was injected into the stubble, and then corn was no-tilled or strip-tilled right over it. The slight delay in corn planting to inject manure was more than made up for by supplying all the fertilizer needed for the corn. The injection keeps the N from volatilizing and being lost.
There are compounds that you can add to the manure to keep it in the ammonia form until the corn is ready to use it. Corn uses about 6 pounds of N the first six weeks, and then uses 6 pounds of N per day during its rapid growth phase.
I have run calculations on both 80-cow and 800-cow operations, and they were able to pay for the injectors in only one year because of fertilizer savings.
So, if you have a chance, inject that manure!