A Meota area farmer is taking liquid fertilizer application to a whole new level in the hopes of increasing his yield without increasing his input costs.
Darin Schaefer, who farms 9,000 acres with his father and brother west of Meota, was one of the first producers in this area to switch to liquid fertilizer about 10 years ago.
Now he's taking it one step further with a newly designed dual application system -- the first of its kind in Canada.
Schaefer bought the Liquid Systems (SA) Alliance 2126, an Australian designed application device, late last year. It arrived mid-March.
The Alliance 2126 is a full auto rate dual liquid system built with stainless steel components to resist corrosion. It can be used with mapping on GPS and auto track technology, meaning it remembers where you've already seeded and fertilized. It features a five-section shutoff, so you can shut down one section at a time. The system can also be used to apply micronutrients and seed fungicides.
Schaefer has the device mounted on a John Deere 1910 air cart. He'll be seeding canola from the front tank and liquid fertilizer from the middle and rear tanks.
"What we're doing now is splitting up where we put the nitrogen and where we put the phosphate. We couldn't do it before because we only had one pump and one delivery system. Now we have two pumps and two delivery systems, and we're putting phosphate right with the seed and the nitrogen gets sidebanked so it ends up away from the seed," he explained.
He's hoping the new system of fertilizer application will increase his yield by one to three bushels an acre.
"That's not huge, but in today's prices, on our farm, with a two bushel increase, that will pay for this whole system more than once this year," he said.
Local research done by Cavalier Agrow last year showed a yield increase as a result of splitting the fertilizer. More testing will take place this year -- Schaefer is one of five growers in two locations participating in field research.
Schaefer hopes to start seeding late in April. In the meantime, he's busy dismantling the old fertilizer system and getting the new one set up.
Peter Burgess, owner and CEO of the Australia-based company Liquid Systems (SA), was in the area this month to help Schaefer set up the system.
Burgess designed this particular model, the 2126, with Schaefer in mind in response to a query from a local John Deere dealer.
"We've created a system which has precise peripheral control," he said.
"Typically, the accuracy row by row on a second by second basis will be around about 95 per cent."
Burgess started Liquid Systems (SA) about 11 years ago. He's been building liquid fertilizer application systems ever since and now has about 700 systems operating on farms in Australia.
"What's nice about this is it's a complete system. A lot of people buy parts and pieces, but this is a complete system," he said.
Burgess has been working with John Deere for the past five years, supplying systems for testing and analysis. Last year he was granted allied supplier status, allowing him to market his products in North America through John Deere.
So far only four Liquid Systems (SA) models have been introduced in North America.
The Alliance 2126, which sells for $35,000 to $40,000, is the first Liquid Systems (SA) liquid fertilizer application device sold in Canada, but Pat Smith, ag management solutions consultant with JayDee Agtech, a group of Saskatchewan John Deere dealers, believes it will prove to be the first of many.
Liquid fertilizer has become more common within the last decade, he said, adding he's been getting more and more inquiries about it.
"It wouldn't surprise me to see two or three more of these next year as people see what they can do," he said.
"A lot of the machinery that's around to do this isn't that precise. Peter's come up with something that does almost exactly what you want."
Liquid fertilizer is growing in popularity at a rate of about three per cent per year in Western Canada, according to Martin Detillieux, manager of Cavlier Agrow.
Of the nitrogen applied in Western Canada, 30 per cent is NH3 (anhydrous ammonia), 48 per cent is urea (granular) and 22 per cent is UAN (liquid fertilizer). The amount of UAN applied has doubled within the last seven years.
"I would say in another seven years it'll be 30 per cent of the market share," Detillieux said.
In the Meota area, the numbers are already much higher. A decade ago, less than 10 producers in the Meota area were using liquid fertilizer. Today, there are about 60.
"This is a hotspot," Detillieux said.
"I would say of the Meota trading area, it's maybe two-thirds of the producers, but that represents more than two-thirds of the acres."
Most of the growth is occurring as anhydrous ammonia users make the switch to liquid fertilizer because of consistency in application, convenience and safety, he added.
