Spreader Adding Urea to standing corn??

[bp fick]

Thanks guys.. Do you think that it will be that much better side dressing or do as Browny says and broadcast every fourth row??

I'd broadcast, if it is knee high and rain is coming. I'm thinking you'll have to decide on the every other row, versus every third row when you get out there. One good thing about urea is that the white pellet is easy to see your coverage.

If the corn is waist high, you will have to do every row and apply lightly, I'd guess. Once you get out there, you'll determine what has to be done.

 

[browny]

Thanks guys.. Do you think that it will be that much better side dressing or do as Browny says and broadcast every fourth row??

I should mention that I have 28" rows so I can get away with going every fourth row. If you have 36" rows then you may have to go every third row. You will be able to tell once you start spreading.

 

[jonyyuma]

I side dressed mine by hand with a hoe and 33% nitrate grains. it jumped when it rained.

 

[jbooth]

Thanks guys.. Do you think that it will be that much better side dressing or do as Browny says and broadcast every fourth row??

I faced the same problem when my corn was about the size you mentioned. I contacted my local CO-OP with the question of broadcasting. He did not recommend broadcasting. The Co-OP rep suggested that during broadcasting some of the pellets would get dispersed down the funnel created by the leaf attachment to the stalk and actually kill the corn where that occurred. I do/did not have the experience to know if this was legit or if he was just bored with selling the small amount I would need. As it turned out we have gone through a long dry spell and probably fertilization would have been detrimental anyway. I plan to use liquid fertilizer next year and believe I can control the amount applied by orifice size, ground speed and mix concentration. I feel a bit guilty when I ask for help from the people who make their living selling ag products and the amount I would use might buy them a cup of coffee. I am also interested in using in-furrow starter fertilizer. All this fretting just to feed deer that have got by for a long time without my help. I plant amounts in the range of to much to do by hand and to little for big expenditures. I also use a JD 71 planter (single row).

Forgot to mention my plans for liquid fertilizer are for using a Fimco ATV sprayer that I already own. Ibelieve it is doable by controlling mix strength, travel speed, and orifice size.

 

[blueriver]

I have done this to my corn plots with a boadcast Agri-Fab push spreader and just let it fly. I would go down every fourth row and get good coverage. Don't forget to do it right before a good 1/2" of rain so it can get worked into the soil instead of evaporating. Last year, at planting time, I tilled all of the starter fertilizer and urea in half of my corn plots and the other half I tilled just the starter fertilizer and top dressed with urea later and I didn't notice any yield difference between the plots.

I do the same with the broadcast ... works very well. I follow with a cultivator to get it in the ground.