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Testing Deep-Banding Phosphorus
Bourgault Industries is seeing benefits from deep-banding phosphorus with its SPS360 40-ft. field cultivator. The company conducted field trials in 2023 on a field scheduled for canola planting. The trial compared strips of broadcast application with deep banding at a 5 in. depth, a control with no phosphorus applicati
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Testing Deep-Banding Phosphorus
Bourgault Industries is seeing benefits from deep-banding phosphorus with its SPS360 40-ft. field cultivator. The company conducted field trials in 2023 on a field scheduled for canola planting. The trial compared strips of broadcast application with deep banding at a 5 in. depth, a control with no phosphorus application, and strips where the soil was worked but no phosphorus was applied.
“Phosphorus in our soils is normally found in the top 2 in., because that’s where we’ve been placing it,” says Curtis de Gooijer, Bourgault Industries. “If there’s no soil moisture there, there’s no root activity and no uptake. Our theory was to get the phosphorus down deeper in the soil profile, where the moisture will last longer throughout the season and give the plant better access to it.”
In 2023, the theory showed promise with a 3 bushel per acre increase using deep banding compared to broadcasting in canola. The following year, wheat was planted in the same field with no yield increase.
De Gooijer suggests that weather may have played a factor in both years. The canola crop received only 3 1/2 in. of rain during the season, most of it in May. Phosphorus in the dry top layer would have been less available. More rain in 2024 may have increased availability in the topsoil layer.
“In 2025, we rotated the field to canola, and deep banding looked promising with two out of three replications outyielding broadcast,” says de Gooijer. “The weigh wagons showed about a 4 bushel per acre increase.”
Bourgault began a second set of trials in 2024 in wheat. It included strips with deep placement of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, as well as combinations of phosphorus and potassium. No yield advantage was observed. However, in 2025, deep-banded phosphorus did show a yield advantage in canola, although potassium didn’t.
The company plans to continue the trials to gauge longer-term benefits, especially with deep-banded nitrogen.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bourgault Industries, P.O. Box 39, 500 SK-368, St. Brieux, Sask. Canada S0K 3V0 (ph 306-275-2300; bourgault@bourgault.com; www.bourgault.com).
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