Applying The Strongest (and deadliest) Nitrogen Fertilizer Available in Farming (Ep. 53)

THERE IS A LOT GOING ON AT THE FARM! Tillage is still in full swing across all of the corn stalks, but another tractor has shown up to help applying a bulk of our nitrogen for the next corn crop. Andy talks about the considerations for applying this special, gaseous fertilizer product. There is a lot of benefits, but also a lot of risks. The rippers have ran through a large majority of their objective fields, so now they will wait for the vertical tillage machine to devour more stalks. Thanks for watching!
#Harvest #Farm #Illinois
Andy is a 6th generation farmer from Central Illinois. On this farm, Andy works alongside his father, Marty, his uncles, Chris and Jeff, and his sister, Katie, to grow corn and soybeans on some of the finest dirt in the world. Andy and his family are deeply rooted in the area, operating a large farm that traces it origins back into the 1800s. Although some tracts did not stand the test of time, Andy and his family still grow corn and soybeans on fields that have been in the family for longer than even the oldest members of the farm have been alive. We do, we have, and we always will take tremendous pride in calling this piece of paradise our home. Andy was a Bronze Tablet graduate of the University of Illinois in the field of Crop Sciences, following the same path as his father and late grandfather.
It would be misleading for Andy to claim that this life is one that came by chance; rather, as a member of two multi-generational farm families, it was simply in his blood. His passion for agriculture traces back to his early youth--some of his fondest, earliest memories being of days spent riding in the combine with his father and grandfather. Although his understanding of the lifestyle was much less complex in the beginning, the love he has for farming, and its industry has only appreciated through time. As this dream blossomed into adulthood, Andy now works relentlessly, and tirelessly, to chase his own dreams and to build a farming operation of his own alongside his family.
We, as a whole operation, are handymen, electricians, mechanics, landscapers, accountants, economists, caretakers, stewards, and, most importantly, farmers, and we take an incredible amount of pride in our work. There is no challenge too overwhelming, no situation too stressful, and no problem too difficult for us to take on, and we want to take you along with us. Welcome to our farm and welcome to our lives. You have the best seat in the house to watch the everyday chaos of farming unfold--we usually only get concerned when things aren't going wrong!
Follow Andy on Social Media for Live Updates:
Twitter: / atrippyfarmer
Facebook: / adolefarms
Instagram: / atrippyfarmer
Twitch: / atrippyfarmer

[@willr69420]

You are an effective communicator Andy, keep up the great work!

[@Marshall_Weber]

I Love How You Explain Stuff!!!

[@bobbyflowers4859]

Awesome aerial view.

[@deepwoodguy2]

Hey, Andy, i would say your college education is shining through with your explaining of the Nitrogen Fertilizer application and hazards ... Great Job.. ✔✔✔

[@aTrippyFarmer]

I could talk about nitrogen for hours. Thanks for watching!

[@randallbyrd1973]

Awesome video TY for sharing

[@Marshall_Weber]

Awesome Video!!

[@blakevanzanten5083]

Thanks for the great explanation of annhydrous and the process of applying it to the soil! It was very informative!

[@aTrippyFarmer]

The process is very neat. I wish I could’ve gotten close to the bar in action, but I didn’t want to inhibit the applicator’s efficiency.

[@danlowery3235]

Great video Andy! 2020 sure has moved right along.

[@aTrippyFarmer]

The wheel in the sky keeps on turning!

[@Roger-zo1eb]

I can remember the days we I used to do all that recreation tillage. Changed farming methods. I have since enjoyed chemical, fuel and equipment costs. I will never go back.

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Thanks for sharing. We are still learning....maybe some day we will find the silver bullet!

[@farmerjon360]

0:49. Mulch finishers do an excellent job of filling in washouts & ditches. Obviously you aren't going to use one on an entire field but if you mark them (washouts/ditches) in the fall with the combine then it's relatively easy to jump to those spots to quickly to fill them in with a Mulch Finisher.

[@aTrippyFarmer]

I like the idea of a mulch finisher, but the field cultivators are hard to beat, especially when you're already invested in them. More acres and power, just not as much cutting power without discs. In a perfect world, I'd be stripping all of the soybean stubble and forgetting spring tillage.

[@indianahoosier7113]

Very nice toolbar

[@jamesmarsh4957]

well again i have learned something from you , i have never seen Nitrogen applied at this time of year with nothing being planted , and thought it would leach away , over here in the UK anhydrous is not used much at all , and we ourselves use granular fertilizer and Nitrogen is applied on our grass in early March , Thanks so much , love the vids as always cheers Andy

[@aTrippyFarmer]

If the infrastructure exists for ammonia application, it is the cheapest form available by far. There are overwintering concerns, but we are far enough north that the winter soil temperature stays below 50F. It is always neat to see how people farm around the world.... thanks for tuning in!

[@Teddybear-le3ex]

I fully understand the respect needed for NH3. I had an accident with it several years ago that resulted in 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my chest and stomach. Although those were bad the other thing you must understand about it is that it is heaver than air and once you get into your lungs you can't exhale it. It has to dissipate over time. I didn't get much vapor in my lungs but I still couldn't breath and eventually passed out from lack of oxygen. Luckily a neighbor farmer was driving by at the time and got me to the doctor before I completely passed out. I spent the night in the hospital and several weeks with recovery of the burns. BE CAREFUL

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Wow I’m very sorry to hear about your misfortune, at least it was survivable. NH3 deserves respect or it will hurt you when things go wrong.

[@matthewallen9852]

Great video keep them coming hope you saved enough corn to pop things are getting good Peace

[@aTrippyFarmer]

The markets are really showing some promise. I am hopeful for a day where we can rely on free trade and strong demand, and not subsidies.

[@gurshanpreet433]

Hey sir I'm watching your videos

[@allenwalters9068]

Our place has used some other stuff cant recall the name of it but they had some strips of it, never worked and had issues getting it out of a tank I cant recall now they didn't use all of it sent it back went back to nserve said the hassles the other stuff brought on wasnt worth it, got a good whife of it this spring oring went bad on a tank talk about exciting glad the wind was helping me, that was the closet ive been to being scared, I love doing nh3 we do all of our own applications of nh3 seeing the dollar bill trick is neat for sure

[@olupotbrian4102]

so much chemistry for a famer

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Chemistry is the science of life. It isn’t really that important to know out here, but it does offer an understanding of the processes. Thanks for watching!

[@jandcco]

You are wrong, it is CLEAR in vapor or liquid form, the white is from it bonding with water vapor in the air and freezing the moisture in the air and that is what gives it the white fog effect.

[@henrylopez5252]

What's the family think of you youtubing? It would b neat to hear from them sometime- farm history, farm growth, memorable seasons, etc. I always enjoy listening to the 'old-timers'

[@jv_8719]

Nserve is very hard on anhydrous equipment. Valves, tanks and the pluming on the bars become very rusty and break because of Nserve. The coop I work for has switched to function over Nserve.

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Yes it is hard on equipment. Another reason why the custom App is worth it.

[@brandonm6052]

Nserve is also higly corrosive, BUT that's on Nutrien to deal with that breakdown on their equipment. We injected nutrisphere on the machine with less corrosion.

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Another reason to have it custom applied. If I said the price, you wouldn’t disagree with our decision, but prices are private information.

[@brandonm6052]

@@aTrippyFarmer Ya I don't remember the exact extra price we charged when we started applying it but we had a strong push to get guys signed up on it. We did it my final year custom applying for the co-op so i never heard official results. I now work for Farmers National Company as a farm manager and I manage land that has nitrate testing yearly so everything is now spring applied with stabilizers.

[@calebfritchtnitch8684]

YEEEEE

[@scottbrill5896]

In Indiana we call him fields

[@joehollis8666]

Enjoy you you tube very much. If I could ask you this question.: on your soil test, do you watch the base saturation percentages on the soil nutrients. I’m wondering how close you try to have a balance . Thanks. Just answer if you don’t mind, but if you don’t, I understand. My name is Joe.

[@edwardmonken4562]

All depends on which nutrient your talking about phosphorus is a ppm or pound per acre number that you want to be at a certain minimum same as potassium where as nitrogen is more of a ration to carbon that you want to match

[@edwardmonken4562]

Soil types also play a huge factor some hold more some hold less but I’m sure every farmer tries to balance out each field to certain levels

[@lobbyrobby]

Wft! I loved that tree 😕

[@tomharrington1393]

👍👍🛫

[@dohxi3874]

Wow, 😮may i know, whats the main reason for loosening that soil?

[@danlindal368]

Did you ever consider no-till regenerative soil management?

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Everything is considered at least once. I do not think that 100% no-till would work in our region. I do believe that cover crops and light tillage could be a way forward to reduce our negative impact on the soils. Thanks for watching!

[@sander5817]

Will you be planting the crops then exactly in the rows where you applied the fertilizer? O will the fertilizer spread in the ground?

[@aTrippyFarmer]

We don’t specially target the nitrogen path with the planter. Some people do that, which has potential benefits. Overall, the nitrogen will actually spread across the soil-it is very mobile. It is also deep enough that the roots will have moved wide and deep. I think strip-tilling is very neat, but it also requires a very fine-tuned level of precision!

[@jayhuff4674]

I wan the light game last night in the cotton field

[@aTrippyFarmer]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@hilledairy4712]

If u know who brad walk is I live about 3 miles away he's a big 5000 plus acre farmer I'm going to guess and in Shelby county

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Yes we know Brad and his family. Very nice operation!

[@cole-mmawy7975]

Tillage time

[@edwardmonken4562]

Nutrien does manufacture nh3 about 550,000 tons just this year so far

[@aTrippyFarmer]

I didn’t know that! They are an absolutely massive company since they merged with Potash Corp. I figured that Koch industries was in charge of most of the NH3. There is a massive Koch storage facility and pipeline near our farms.

[@allenwalters9068]

@@aTrippyFarmer yes Koch is the big one around here, a lot of ours comes out of terre haute, I think everything I've did so far came out of terre haute this fall im 30 miles west of there, a lot in the spring comes from there as well

[@samadams7181]

Was that excessive wheel slip with the co-ops tractor

[@aTrippyFarmer]

It was a little soft on top-nothing to be concerned about. Excessive wheel slip is when you’re throwing mud!

[@JackFrost-mt5dh]

That looked a little rough on the backhoe, beating on the tree! Chain saw works better! Lol

[@aTrippyFarmer]

We were a little worried about those limbs falling on the saw person. I wouldn’t ever recommend buying a used backhoe... 😂👍🏻

[@zeusmacafee5097]

So when you said you put 200lb of dap on, was that 200lbs actual phosphorus or only 92lbs of phosphorus?

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Good question. 200lbs of product, so whatever the calculations come out to. 200 is our minimum. In some fields, we go up to 300-350 if they produce large yields. We also supplement potash on some of our corn stalks. Soybeans seem to respond very well to that.

[@jayhuff4674]

What size tractor and tool bar are they running

[@aTrippyFarmer]

I wasn’t sure about the tractor when I talked in the video, so I didn’t mention it. It is a new Deere 9570R and a case 60’ bar. It’s a very nice setup... I assume the tractor is a lease.

[@MrNaylorchristopherl]

How do you like your landoll vertical till

[@aTrippyFarmer]

It’s a really good implement. Well-built, reliable, and leaves a good finished product.

[@elisabethalmaraz3926]

So I just moved to the area in Oct. This is my first time in such a large farm area. I have fields on all 4 sides of our home. Is this stuff dangerous to us? My kids? I did see them doing this after harvest. I really thought I did all my research before buying the home. I never thought about all the chemicals. We are on well water so does that mean its in our water?

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Elisabeth, welcome to farm country! I would be more than happy to help explain some things to you. I can understand how the different aspects of crop production would make you uneasy, especially with children, and I didn't mean to intimidate you further with this video. The safety of modern farming is almost unrecognizable compared to the standards of previous generations. That being said, there are still many different facets of agriculture that are constantly scrutinized by people, media, and scientists--and rightfully so. Over the last century, companies have produced chemicals that were later found to have negative consequences to ourselves and our environment, namely in the form of incredibly powerful insecticides. The realization of these mistakes, which took place many decades ago, has astronomically increased the amount of research, development, and analyzation required to produce, market, and apply any chemical, whether organic or synthetic, in the agriculture industry. As it currently stands, I can assure you that no one is knowingly, or recklessly, utilizing any product that has been shown to have irreparable, deleterious effects. Every product has a very specific set of rules that must be followed to be used within the confines of the law. It can be easy to argue that we may learn something new one-hundred years from now, but that can be said about almost anything in our lives. In the case of Anhydrous Ammonia(NH3), the gaseous-nitrogen fertilizer in this video, the acute health concerns are for the equipment handler/operator in the case of a major mishap. Operators are required to be certified to apply this product, due to the lack of forgiveness when a large quantity comes in contact with a human. Under any non-extreme circumstance, it is perfectly safe to live next to fields where this is applied. I have been surrounded by it my entire life, although it will definitely open your sinuses up if you're outside when it's being applied. I wouldn't recommend letting your kids run around when this is being knifed into the ground next to your house, just for the sake of simplicity. The final result of this application is a heavy addition of nitrogen, the primary nutrient required for corn production, to the soil profile. It is certainly possible that there are nitrates in your well water. However, this could occur without the application of any nitrogen product. Regardless, I would always recommend that someone should have his/her well water tested (I believe they make kits to do this). There are many agriculture-related and natural water quality issues that any well may have. I grew up drinking well water that comes from directly underneath some of our farms, and I have always enjoyed the taste much more than highly purified water. If you are extremely concerned with the presence of some compounds in your water, which is always a possibility, an investment in water treatment equipment can create extremely pure water. I hope that this helps ease any confusion that you may have. Best wishes!

[@elisabethalmaraz3926]

@@aTrippyFarmer Thank you.

[@charlieshwan5574]

3:12 what was that siren?

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Yes it was a tornado siren. I’m glad someone noticed!!

[@jayhuff4674]

A small wiff gives me a bad headache and makes me dizzy

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Yep. That is nasty stuff! It’s sealing really well this season, but I’ve been in fields before where you can’t drive out there without getting light-headed.

[@coltmiller6706]

who is katie

[@snownuts80]

Katie is his sister

[@MJBgaming.]

You should let the camera roll and not cut out that short pieces of footage

[@aTrippyFarmer]

I do appreciate that idea, but the videos would be sooooo long if I didn't cut them.

[@scottbrill5896]

Them

[@123456789fudbal]

I also upload farminng videos

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Awesome!

[@bnjmnwtt]

You make us farmers look bad. Let’s keep filling in the washouts so our topsoil keeps washing away You using anhydrous is what’s making your ground rough. Band UAN and in 2-4 years, your soul will be alot more mellow Leave it to IL farmers

[@aTrippyFarmer]

Sounds like you've got it all figured out!

[@PrestigeWorldWidePWW]

#TRUMP2020

[@scottb2712]

Hopefully Biden can get us back Obama era grain prices..miss having someone who pushes biofuels in the white house