5 Expert Insights from Crop Nutrition Week

Finding Balance: 5 Expert Insights from Crop Nutrition Week 2025

In an era of rising input costs and tight margins, balancing yield potential and profitability has never been more crucial. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to crop nutrition, but there are strategies every grower can use to optimize their nutrient investments.

During Crop Nutrition Week 2025, growers and agronomy experts came together to discuss data-driven strategies for building stronger returns on their fertility investments. Here are the top five insights shaping their upcoming growing seasons:

Maximize ROI, not just yield.

Yield has long been the measure of a successful growing season, but maximum yield doesn’t always equal maximum profit.

“As you push yield higher, you’ll likely need to apply more fertilizer,” says Galynn Beer, sales strategy lead for AgroLiquid. “That increases your risk and adds costs you may not recoup at harvest.”

Beer says it’s better to pull back on yield before you hit diminishing returns. In his experience, aiming for about 95% of maximum yield significantly reduces inputs and still ends up being the most profitable approach.

Time nutrient applications to optimize efficiency.

Temple Rhodes, an XtremeAg grower in Maryland, uses in-season applications to manage his budget and reduce nutrient loss and fixing that can come with front-loading.

“60-70% of phosphorus is needed during the reproductive stage,” he notes. “The fertility never really changes. I’m just reallocating it.”

Rhodes says spoon-feeding his crops with foliar applications also allows him to remain flexible and respond to weather variables that impact his crop.

Manage nutrient interactions.

Nutrients in the soil interact in ways that can enhance or inhibit their availability to the crop.

“Just like a magnet, positives and negatives can get fixed together,” explains Stephanie Zelinko, national agronomist for AgroLiquid. “Keeping your calcium base saturation between 60-75% and being mindful of how phosphorus can displace other nutrients like zinc, iron, manganese and copper will help improve efficiency and uptake.”

Timing and application methods can help avoid negative interactions.

Cut with precision.

When input prices are high it may be tempting to protect your bottom line with broad cuts to your crop nutrition budget. Instead, Zelinko encourages growers to look at the big picture.

“Everybody does a good job of putting their nitrogen out, but you might be overapplying,” says Zelinko. “Reallocating some of your fertilizer budget to address limiting factors in your micronutrients can have significant ROI,” says Zelinko. “

Plan to be flexible.

While we emphasize planning for the upcoming season, we also have to account for variables like weather and market prices that are out of our control. Building flexibility into your crop nutrition program with alternative delivery methods and split applications can help you adapt to changing growing conditions.

“If you’ve been broadcasting urea all your life, consider a liquid application, spoon-fed throughout the season,” suggests Reid Abbott, AgroLiquid agronomist. “You may be able to cut back total pounds and still be more efficient with what you are applying.”

Looking for more expert insights from Crop Nutrition Week 2025?

Visit cropnutritionweek.com and register to gain access to this year’s full content, along with our archives and other resources. You can also follow us on Facebook for crop nutrition advice all year long.