The IFCA and the Illinois Department of Agriculture issued a joint press release today to reinforce the positive message of safety and stewardship when it comes to the fall fertilizer season.  Please click here to view the press release and feel free to share it with your customers and any local media in your area.  We are working closely with IDA to evaluate and mitigate causes of anhydrous ammonia releases that occur during the application season.  Transporting ammonia at safe speeds (no more than 25 mph), using safety chains, ensuring tool bars and disconnect devices are properly installed and maintained and knowing what to do in the event of a release are vital to ensure safety around anhydrous ammonia.  Visit www.ifca.com to learn more about on-line ammonia safety training for farmers, and if you hire part-time workers who haven't had a chance to attend an IFCA/IDA training session to become a competent anhydrous ammonia attendant, IFCA also has a temporary on-line ammonia safety course available from our website that retail employees can take to help bridge the gap until they can attend a full training session.  

 

Please also pay close attention to soil temperatures to ensure both agronomic and environmental stewardship of fall applied nitrogen.  IFCA posts the State Water Survey soil temperatures on our website at www.ifca.com and you can click here as well to go directly to that site.  The UI Agronomy Handbook and IFCA recommends that fall applied nitrogen be applied when soil temperatures fall to 50 degrees at the 4 inch maximum daily temperature and the weather forecast looks likely for soil temps to continue to fall. We also encourage using nitrification inhibitors for all fall applied nitrogen.  

 

In a few weeks, the Illinois EPA will release the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy which will garner a lot of attention and rightly so.  Our industry has a large role to play in helping our farmer customers ensure that we are considering and implementing the 4Rs:  Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place.  Fall applied nitrogen is part of the 4R program when applied in accordance with good stewardship principles outlined in the Illinois Agronomy Handbook.  Everyone is paying close attention to our industry and looking to fertilizer retailers and crop advisers to continue to provide leadership on nutrient stewardship so that we retain all the nutrient sources and application methods we know are necessary for our industry and our customers.  Remember:  Minimize Environmental  Impact, Optimize Harvest Yield and Maximize Input Utilization (MOM).  Please contact IFCA if you have questions about nutrient issues and the IFCA's role in providing leadership and accountability on reducing nutrient losses from the agricultural sector.  This will be a major topic at the IFCA Winter Convention January 20-22, 2015.  

 

Thank you IFCA members for your commitment to safety and stewardship!