As planting continues across the U.S., I wanted to take time this month to focus on how enzyme usage can benefit corn crops. Corn is one of the few plants we work with that grows in a uniquely linear manner, meaning that any advantage you can give this plant early in the season can lead to an increase in size, health, and yield of the crop.

One of corn’s more important windows for nutrient acquisition is during the V5-V8 stages, when many critical ear size determinations are made — before the plant takes up a massive draw of nutrients from the soil to support the growth and development of the ear. The more effectively the corn plant can uptake these nutrients, the fewer limits on growth, leading to better yield potential.

Sidedress applications of nitrogen sources at this time work to match the increased nutrient demand, but can also be placed in key areas of the soil where roots are growing for maximum effect, while limiting the volatilization potential of the soil nitrogen.

Application of key enzymes in soil alongside these sidedress applications in the form of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) can augment and enhance the plant’s nutrient uptake by increasing its natural ability to pull nitrogen from the soil. This simple and easy addition to the UAN adds no additional workload for the grower, and can maximize the utility of the newly applied fertilizer during this period of intense nutrient need and nitrogen draw from the soil.

These biological enzyme additions can mean additional return on investment to the grower with almost no extra hassle, reaping the benefits of this increased nutrient uptake on the developing midseason ears. Maximizing the utility of fertilizer directly leads to reduced costs for the grower, putting more of their fertilizer into the plant while also decreasing the risk of volatilization and runoff later in the season.

Enzymes are important because they can benefit any number of crops during key growth stages. Corn sidedress is one of those great opportunities this year.