Do you really need to fertilize your no-till soybeans? Can’t you just let them scavenge for what’s left in the soil after corn?

Andrew Hoiberg has been asked those questions and his answer is — no.

“You shouldn’t just let your soybeans scavenge out there. You should be proactive in your fertility management and make sure the soybean has what it needs,” says the vice president of research and development at Calcium Products, based in Ames, Iowa. “If we’re growing it as a crop, as a commodity, you want to make sure it’s got everything it needs.”

In a presentation given at the Illinois Soybean Assn.’s (ISA) 2016 Soybean Summit in Rockford, Ill., Hoiberg shared how soil influences soybean fertility, and some considerations no-tillers should keep in mind to ensure they’re creating a successful fertility program.

Know the Texture.

The first step with any fertility program is to understand the soil texture. The reason it’s important is it can help drive fertility management decisions, especially in terms of application timing.

“We don’t want to use a nutrient that’s more susceptible to leaching in a sandier soil,” Hoiberg explains. “That’s the type of information that can help us drive decisions on the fertility plan and also in our operational planning.”