A case for side dressing

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Side dressing crops is all about getting the right nutrients to the right place in the right amount and at the right time.

That’s how Glen Arnold, field specialist, manure nutrient management systems and professor at Ohio State University Extension explains it. More specifically, it’s about using liquid manure to get nitrogen to a crop when it’s needed the most—while the plants are growing.

“With side dressing, you’re applying manure alongside standing rows of corn, or whatever crop you’re growing,” explains Melissa Wilson, associate professor and extension specialist with the University of Minnesota. “If you have a manure with a higher ammonium content, like swine manure, for instance, applying it during the growing season can be really beneficial. If you have that high ammonium content manure, you have these plant-available nutrients right when the corn is really ready to take up those nutrients.”

While side dressing is used most commonly on corn crops, some work is being done with other types of crops, including soybean. “From my previous county extension research and personal experience, I have only ever side dressed a corn crop,” admits Eric Richer, field specialist in farm management with Ohio State University Extension and Certified Crop Advisor (CCA).

He adds: “We have found that the nutrients available in liquid beef and swine manure to be especially well suited to meet the needs of a crop rotation of corn and soybeans. We recommend applying to the corn crop so that the corn can utilize the nitrogen and all nutrients in the first year, whereas soybeans don’t have the demand for the nitrogen in the second year.”

Besides getting valuable nutrients to the plants as they grow, side dressing offers other benefits. “Applying a product with immediately available nitrogen to a corn crop makes the maximum use of manure nutrients, saves money on purchased fertilizer, and improves water quality,” explains Arnold.

Application method
Applying manure to plants that are already growing can be a challenge. After all, you don’t want to risk harming the plants. “Methods of application can include a drag hose, Cadman technology or the newest innovation: Rain-360,” says Arnold.

The drag hose method has limitations, since it needs to be used early enough that it won’t permanently damage growing plants. Timing is key. “If you’re using the drag host system, you want do it before the corn gets to the V4 growth stage,” explains Wilson. “That’s because the drag hose is being pulled over parts of the field, and parts of the corn. As long as you do that before the growing point comes above the soil level, then the plants will recover. They’ll bounce right back. It might take a day or two, of course, but they’ll actually just continue growing.”

Cadman and Rain-360 systems, on the other hand, can be employed even later in the growing season, but require an investment in the right equipment. Regardless of the method used, preparation is key. “Your equipment needs to be set up properly for side dressing,” explains Wilson. “You will also need narrower tires for you tractor, so you can drive between the rows.”

She explains that side dressing is a complex process that requires a bit of know-how. While some growers invest in the needed equipment and are happy to do the work themselves, others prefer to hire professionals who already have the right equipment for the job.

If you’re planning on hiring a commercial manure applicator, Arnold recommends planning ahead. “Some corn fields are planted at a 45-degree angle to help out the drag hose operator,” he explains. “Other times, a hose humper is used to help position the drag hose. We can side dress corn fields that are a half-mile in length.”

Those who prefer to do the job themselves, should expect a bit of trial and error, explains Richer. “There is definitely a learning curve,” he says. “I encourage growers to evaluate the equipment they have, to ensure manure is being placed well, and when soil conditions are dry enough to avoid compaction.”

That last part about the proper soil conditions is critical. “You definitely want to make sure your soils aren’t too wet, because you want to reduce the risk of compaction,” says Wilson. “You also don’t want to muck up your fields or get stuck out there. And make sure that if you’re pulling a drag hose, you want conditions where the soil can hold up that hose and not get gouged down too much as it’s going across the field.”

The right time and place
Side dressing can be used in both Canada and the United States. However, timing is critical, and there are a few caveats to consider. “From a geographical perspective, side dressing corn seems to work well in the U.S. Midwest where the fall and spring temperatures can be a bit warmer, and another window for manure application is needed,” explains Richer. “In the Upper Midwest, and in Canada, I would expect late fall manure applications—because it’s cooler—to result in similar yields as side dressing, simply because less nitrogen is mineralized at cooler temperatures. 

“However, if another manure application window is needed, I would expect side dress liquid manure to have very positive results, or yield better than fall-applied situations. Growers who have liquid livestock manure have found this strategy to be one of several effective strategies to meet the nutrient needs of their corn crop. In the future, I would expect this manure side dressing strategy to be used more as water quality and carbon intensity scores come into focus.”

Types of manure
When it comes to choosing the best type of manure for side dressing, Arnold offers the following advice: “Swine manure has three times more N than dairy manure. Liquid beef manure can work. Manure than has a 2:1 ratio of N to P for a zero P growth in the soil over a two-year corn-soybean rotation.”

He adds: “The ammonium nitrogen in the manure is what we are interested in. Swine finishing manure is the best liquid source for side dressing corn. It is immediately available for any growing crop, as opposed to organic nitrogen, which takes much longer to become available. More than 90 percent of the nitrogen in swine manure is typically in the ammonium form.”

Naturally, for best results, growers should test their soils and manure prior to application in order to determine how much manure needs to be applied, and where.

Promising results
Rick Alig, along with his brothers Dave and Greg, are owners of Alig Farms in Fort Recovery, Ohio. They grow corn and soybeans, and they also raise livestock. The brothers started side dressing their crops more than a dozen years ago.

“We have a lot of liquid manure, and my brother Dave has a lot of liquid cattle manure,” explains Rick Alig. “Instead of putting it on in the fall, where you lose most of your nitrogen, we decided to put it on the crop when it needs it.”

Alig says that the results are well worth the effort. “We get about a 10 percent increase in yield with both our corn and soy crops,” he adds.

Rather than using a drag hose, Alig and his brothers invested in a Cadman CMA, because they found that using a drag hose dramatically reduces the window of opportunity they would have to side dress their crops before the corn gets to the V4 stage. 

“Some guys drag a line over their corn, knocking it over, and their window is really short,” explains Alig. “The CMA does not knock the corn over, the hose stays in the row, and we can apply side dressing to as tall a corn or soybean plant that the tractor can drive through.”

Rather than hire a commercial manure applicator, the Alig brothers do the side dressing themselves. “If you’re big enough to own your own equipment, it makes sense. If you’re not, you can get together with your neighbours and cut the costs.”

Besides the increase in yield, side dressing also saves them money. “We’re not buying commercial fertilizers,” he says. “We have to pump our manure anyhow, so we might as well do it when the crops need it.”

Alig touches on an important reason why side dressing makes sense, especially if you have lots of liquid manure, and are dealing with storage challenges. Wilson explains how this issue has impacted her part of the country: “What we’re starting to see in Minnesota, at least with some of our older-style hog barns, is they don’t have a full year’s worth of manure storage anymore. Whether that’s because the genetics of the pigs have changed, the pigs are getting bigger than they used to, or because we’re turning the pigs a little faster through the barns… Whatever the reason, they just don’t have enough manure storage. So having a field or two where you can side dress manure in the summer can be beneficial, because you’ll have an outlet for that manure to get you through the summer and into the fall.”

Of course, the most notable advantage to side dressing is the benefit to the crops. “Applying in-season, especially when you are trying to utilize the nutrients most efficiently can be beneficial, just because that’s when the corn is taking up the nutrients most rapidly—right at that beginning, when it’s about a foot tall, or a little bit higher,” concludes Wilson. “It just makes sense.” 

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