There is nothing worse than when you’re walking your fields and you find stunted or discolored plants due to nutrient deficiency. The key is to take a proactive approach to managing these deficiencies. There are a few things to consider when deficiencies are present.
- Look at your grid sample results to see if there is an adequate supply of nutrients in the soil to supply the crop.
- Take a tissue sample to see if there is a nutrient limiting the plant’s growth.
- Check roots, because if they are unable to access sufficient nutrients, deficiencies can show up.
- This can be due to poor growing conditions, excessively wet or dry soils, cold weather, or soil compaction
- Root injury due to mechanical, insect, disease, or herbicide injury
If you can visually see a nutrient deficiency in a corn or soybean plant, chances are you are too late.
