Effective Nutrient Removal Management Can Help Maximize a Crop’s Potential

In the ever-evolving world of agriculture, where efficiency and profitability are paramount, understanding how nutrient management affects crop production can make or break a successful harvest. Dr. Alan Blaylock, Senior Agronomist at Nutrien, discusses the critical role of nutrient removal in sustainable crop production.

Nutrient Removal vs. Nutrient Uptake: What’s the Difference? 

At the heart of nutrient management lies the understanding of two key processes: nutrient uptake and nutrient removal. Nutrient uptake refers to the total amount of nutrients that a crop absorbs throughout the growing season, while nutrient removal only accounts for the portion of those nutrients that are taken from the field in the harvested portion of the crop, like the grain or fruit. “Understanding this difference is critical for farmers,” Dr. Blaylock explains. “While uptake shows the plant’s overall nutrient needs, removal highlights what’s actually leaving the field at harvest and what needs to be replenished in the soil.”

This distinction directly influences fertilizer decisions. Many growers tend to focus on what’s removed because replenishing these lost nutrients ensures the soil remains fertile for the next growing season. For instance, a corn or wheat crop may absorb a certain amount of nutrients throughout its life cycle, but only a fraction of those nutrients are taken away in the harvested grain. “That fraction is what we focus on when talking about nutrient removal, and it’s what impacts soil health over time,” says Dr. Blaylock.

Accurate Nutrient Removal Data: A Must-Have Tool 

To manage nutrient removal effectively, growers need access to accurate data. Fortunately, this information is readily available through the Nutrient Removal Calculator on Nutrien’s eKonomics website, a tool developed from robust, peer-reviewed research and university studies. “Our calculator is an invaluable resource for growers looking to estimate the nutrient impact of their harvest,” says Dr. Blaylock. “It’s based on highly reputable sources, including databases from institutes like the International Plant Nutrition Institute and The Fertilizer Institute, as well as Canadian research.”

This tool allows farmers to input specific crop data and instantly calculate how many nutrients were removed during harvest. This information empowers them to make precise fertilizer decisions for the next growing season, ensuring their soil remains productive. For farmers, such tools simplify the complex task of balancing nutrient budgets, ensuring that neither too little nor too much fertilizer is applied—both of which can have costly consequences.

The Role of Soil Testing in Nutrient Management 

While nutrient removal data is essential, it must be used in conjunction with soil testing to build a comprehensive nutrient management plan. Soil testing provides a snapshot of the current nutrient levels in the soil, allowing growers to tailor their fertilization practices to the specific needs of their fields. “Soil testing is where it all starts,” Dr. Blaylock emphasizes. “It gives farmers a baseline of what nutrients are already in the soil and helps them determine how much additional fertilizer is needed to maintain optimal fertility levels.”

Soil testing, done on a regular basis (usually every three to four years), helps monitor the long-term fertility of a field. However, certain conditions—like unexpectedly large crops or extreme weather—may prompt the need for more frequent testing. For example, if a grower harvested a larger-than-expected corn crop, the soil may be more depleted than usual, requiring an updated test to accurately assess its condition. Dr. Blaylock explains, “If I’m harvesting a big crop several years in a row, I might start seeing faster drawdown of nutrients in the soil, and I’ll need to account for that.”

Conversely, in years with poor yields due to drought or flooding, less nutrient removal occurs, meaning there may be more nutrients remaining in the soil than anticipated. In such cases, the fertilizer budget can be adjusted downward, saving growers both time and money while maintaining healthy nutrient levels in the soil.

Building a Long-Term Nutrient Strategy

Dr. Blaylock points out that successful nutrient management is about more than just replacing what’s removed—it’s about creating a sustainable, long-term strategy for soil health. Two key approaches are often used: the “maintenance and build-up” strategy and the “sufficiency level” strategy.

In the maintenance and build-up strategy, farmers aim to maintain or even increase soil fertility over time by consistently applying fertilizers that match or exceed nutrient removal rates. This strategy is popular among growers who want to ensure they never fall short on nutrients, maintaining a safety net of fertility in their soil and so may use nutrient removal values to estimate nutrient replacement needs. “Some farmers prefer to ensure they have a constant surplus of nutrients available to the crop, even if that means slightly overapplying in the short term,” Blaylock notes.

The sufficiency level strategy, on the other hand, focuses on a soil’s nutrient-supplying capacity as measured by the soil test.  In this method, farmers apply fertilizer if soil-test values indicate deficiency.  This method takes advantage of the soil’s ‘nutrient bank’ and avoids applying more than is indicated as necessary by the soil-test calibration research.  “It’s a leaner approach, but one that many farmers find cost-effective,” says Blaylock. “It helps them avoid overapplying nutrients, which can be a costly mistake, both financially and environmentally.” One could utilize nutrient removal to supplement sufficiency level recommendations if one wished to avoid drawing too much on soil nutrient reserves.

Adjusting Fertilizer Budgets for Maximum Efficiency 

One key benefit of using nutrient removal data and soil tests together is the ability to adjust fertilizer budgets year by year. If a farmer has an exceptionally high-yielding crop one year, they may need to increase their fertilizer application the following season to replenish the nutrients removed. Alternatively, if yields are lower than expected, they can reduce fertilizer use, saving on input costs while still maintaining soil fertility.

“As I mentioned earlier, this year we’re seeing some huge corn crops across the Corn Belt,” Dr. Blaylock explains. “That means many farmers will need to increase their fertilizer budgets for next season to maintain soil fertility, especially if they’re following a nutrient replacement strategy.”

In leaner years, where crops are smaller, or market prices are low, growers can take advantage of the nutrient reserves already built up in their soil. “If you’ve done a good job maintaining soil fertility, you can reduce fertilizer inputs without sacrificing yield. This is especially important in years with tight cash flow,” says Dr. Blaylock.

The Profit Equation: Soil Fertility’s Role in Farm Success 

Ultimately, nutrient removal and soil fertility are about more than just managing the current season’s crop—they’re about ensuring long-term profitability. “Maintaining good soil fertility gives farmers more control over their management decisions and, ultimately, their profit margins,” Blaylock explains. Farmers can safeguard future yields by keeping soils well-nourished, even in challenging years with unfavorable weather or fluctuating market prices.

There’s a direct link between soil health and a farmer’s bottom line. Poor soil fertility leads to nutrient deficiencies, which, in turn, results in lower yields. And because yield is such a crucial component of the profit equation, maintaining good soil fertility is essential. “When we manage soil fertility well, we have the flexibility to respond to cash flow, weather conditions, and yield targets. It gives farmers more control over their operation’s success,” says Blaylock.

Effective nutrient management is critical to unlocking a crop’s full potential. By combining nutrient removal data, soil testing, and smart fertilizer strategies, farmers can maintain soil health, increase yields, and maximize profitability.