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Farming's Next Frontier
3 DVD Set
9+ hours

Taught by Dr. Dan Skow, Wendell Owens and Jon Frank
Guest Speaker -- James Lovelady

The Neglected Child of Crop Nutrition

With the possible exception of soil microbes beneath our feet no other sphere of crop production lies so wide open and unexplored as feeding plants through their leaves. Most universities and large agri-business corporations are just waking up to the idea that foliar plant nutrition might be of some advantage. Meanwhile, back in the private sector, foliar feeding has been in practice among knowledgeable consultants and farmers for over 50 years.

It has often been said "Don't feed the plant--rather feed the soil and the soil will feed the plant automatically." While this statement seems intuitively correct it is not. Ideally we must feed the biology in the soil, feed the plant at the root level, and feed the plant directly through the leaves. For too long feeding plants through the leaves has been the neglected step child of crop nutrition--an after thought if the farmer had some extra time.

So what is foliar plant nutrition? In essence foliar feeding is a fulcrum point allowing the farmer to apply tremendous leverage toward crop production and quality. In plain English this means that with only minimal inputs great results can be achieved when properly applied. There is a catch of course. Just like in the analogy of a large boulder and a crowbar the fulcrum point must be used and it must be positioned properly. If the fulcrum point is at the wrong end of the crowbar nothing moves.

Similarly, the leverage of foliar spraying must be applied properly in order to obtain the desired results. What kind of results are we talking about?

• An increase in 6 bushels of soybeans from only 1 foliar application less than a month before harvest.
• A reduction in bitter pit in honey crisp apples from 30% down to 1% by following a regular foliar program.
• A 8-fold increase in dry matter compared to a control plot harvested from a New Zealand forage paddock in the midst of a severe drought with only 8 foliar applications.

The question that begs to be answered is: how can foliar feeding provide this much leverage? The answer lies in truly understanding how leaves function and how to increase their efficiency of capturing solar energy. It is also keenly important to know when, how, and what to spray on plants. A misunderstanding here could cost you big time.

View topics by DVD disks #1-3 in PDF

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