This photo of volunteer wheat in sunflowers shows the impact fertilizer placement has on weed or volunteer crop growth.  The 2” x 2” banded NPK fertilizer is benefitting the sunflowers and the wheat happening to grow over that band.  Those weeds between the 30” rows are weak and starved.  Broadcast fertilizer would have provided a great boost to these pests – at the expense of the crop.

Figure 1: Volunteer wheat in Sunflowers – the benefit of fertilizer placement. Photo by J. Heard (2016)

Submitted by: John Heard, Crop Nutrition Specialist, Manitoba Agriculture

Visit Manitoba Agriculture website at http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/soil-fertility/ for more information on soil fertility.