Buckwheat Fert

[DavidT1]

Hello,
For those of you that raise Buckwheat for a cash grain crop, what is your fertilizer program and do you broadcast all fertilizer, do a split and band some or use liquid? Thanks!

 

[Charlie M]

Hello,
For those of you that raise Buckwheat for a cash grain crop, what is your fertilizer program and do you broadcast all fertilizer, do a split and band some or use liquid? Thanks!

I've heard buckwheat doesn't need fertilizer or at least very little. I've planted it as a cover crop before without fertilizer and it seemed to do fine. Never tried to harvest the grain.

 

[DanielW]

I'm no expert as I don't do much buckwheat - usually just a cover for a following hay crop. But it seems to do exceptionally well with me fertilizing it very lightly in anticipation of getting the soil a little sweeter for the following crop. The chap up the road who grows a lot of it doesn't fertilize at all for the buckwheat crop, but gives all his buckwheat fields a hefty dose of wollastonite before buckwheat (probably not necessary for buckwheat - I suspect more for his subsequent crops). He does go heavy on the fertilizer for everything else in his rotation.

Because it's planted/fertilized later in the season and I only ever have one field of it at a time, it's not worth me trucking in bulk fertilizer for it. I fertilize it using a mounted spreader and just buying 50# bags. I don't know that' I've ever been too concerned with exactly what and how much I'm putting on. As I say, the fertilizer I put on is more to get the soil slightly prep'd for the following crop. The chap up the road says that too much fertilizer on buckwheat is like too much N on some cereals: It'll have excessive vegetative growth, grow crazy tall, lodge, and become a nightmare to combine, but this excessive growth it won't increase seed yield by any significant amount.

I'll maybe throw on 150-200 lbs. max of Triple 19. Plus sulphur, copper, and boron to taste (the S, Cu, B is mainly because of my sandy soils and for the following alfalfa crop). Because buckwheat yields aren't overly large even in the best years, and because you're (presumably) not baling the straw/residue, you're not removing too much nutrients when you take it off. Or at least, not compared to other cereal crops.

 

[DavidT1]

Last year was my first year under contract and I did a straight 75 pounds of Urea. This year I was thinking urea again for the N and then a 19-19-19 or similar in the drill or even broadcasted and worked in.

 

[paul]

It does look like buckwheat doesn’t use a whole lot of nutrients. Assuming it is a lower yielding crop at 30 bu being a good crop.

You need more nutrients than this to support the plant itself, but this is all the grain itself will need.

I would think applying before planting might be the best bang for the Buck with such modest needs.