Applying a portion of your grass seed crop’s fertility in the fall makes for less work, less cost, and less setbacks.
Soil testing your fields in the fall is the best way to determine nutrient requirements for the spring. BrettYoung Seed Production Specialist Allan Wilson said the results you get from a soil test will help you to determine the total quantities of fertilizer the crop requires.
“Applying some of that fertilizer in the fall is a good management practice,” he said.
Doing so offers a wide range of benefits:
- It spreads out your spring workload, taking some of the pressure off as the snow starts to melt.
- If spring conditions prove too wet to spread fertilizer, you don’t have to worry about rutting up your field.
- Fertilizer prices are often much lower in the fall than they are in the spring.
Nitrogen, Wilson said, has the most direct impact on your seed yield. By applying a portion of the Nitrogen your crop needs in the fall, it helps to ensure your plants won’t run short in early spring.
“Seed yield potential is determined early in the spring, so adequate nitrogen is needed when the soil begins to warm up after winter,” he said. “Nitrogen applications in late fall — after the plants have gone dormant — are recommended as this practice ensures nutrients are available to the plants in early spring.”
If you’re using urea fertilizer, Wilson said the ideal field will have a dry, unfrozen soil surface, and rain or snowfall will occur shortly after application to move the urea into the soil. As a grass seed stand ages, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Sulfur may or may not be required — another soil test is the best way to determine what your crop needs.
“Grass seed crops respond well to adequate fertilizer,” said Wilson. “By applying some of that fertility in the fall, it sets up the crop well for the following year.”
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