How the super El Niño could affect fall fertilizer’s all-important timing
Timing is crucial for Iowa farmers preparing their post-harvest fields for the coming season, but they don’t work on a date-based schedule. Fertilizing fields in the fall requires closely watching soil temperatures to avoid lost production in next year’s crop and nitrate pollution in waterways.
Looking to the ground instead of the calendar will be especially important this year, as a super El Niño — an unusually strong variant of the cyclical weather pattern driven by heightened warmth in the Pacific Ocean — is expected to bring a wetter and warmer fall.
Two Iowa State University experts in nutrient management — agronomy professor Mike Castellano and agricultural and biosystems engineering professor Dan Andersen — shared what that could mean for Iowa farmers and why timing is so important for fall fertilizer.
