Why You Should Fertigate
If you have an irrigation system, the most cost-effective way of applying fertilizer to your crops is... THROUGH YOUR IRRIGATION SYSTEM! Nothing else even comes close:
| Ground spreading | Fertigation | |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel cost | Fuel for tractor/spreader -- varies widely -- how much do you pay? | Electrical power to run a 1½-hp pump -- typically less than 25 cents per hour of operation |
| Maintenance costs | Periodic oil, repairs, tires, etc (you should be amortizing these costs per hour of operation) | Virtually nil -- only winter drainage and storage in cold climates. The FD95 will work for years with almost no attention. |
| Labor cost | What is your time worth? Or - what will you pay someone to spread fertilizer? | Let the irrigation water do the work of spreading the fertilizer. |
| Equipment cost | Thousands of dollars for a spreader, tractor, etc. (Sure, you may already have these, but every hour you put on them is an hour you'll eventually pay in replacement costs) | $1095.00 + shipping (plus cost of a chemigation check valve or backflow preventer and tank if you don't already have them) |
Other Benefits of Fertigation Include...
- Better uniformity of application
- More control over timing of applications
- Less dependence on weather for timing of applications. For example, you can apply fertilizer at a high rate through the irrigation system with a minimum of water -- just enough to carry the fertilizer to the field -- even when fields are too wet for vehicles
- Ability to apply fertilizer only as needed by the crop, throughout the growing season ("spoon-feeding")
- Reduced fertilizer usage resulting from greater control of application rate
- More flexibility to deal with abrupt weather changes -- you can adjust application rates in a way not possible with timed-release ground-spread fertilizers
- Less soil compaction from equipment
- Less risk of run-off
- Less risk to personnel