Why and How To Use Stream Bars For Liquid Fertilizer Application
Liquid Fertilizer Stream Bars Help Reduce Nitrogen Losses
Loss of nitrogen (N) as ammonia gas (NH3) is known as volatilization. Nitrogen Fertilizers containing ammonia or urea can be lost through volatilization as ammonia gas to the atmosphere. Ammonia volatilization increases with increasing soil pH and pH of the applied fertilizer. These types of losses are greater with urea (46-0-0) than with UAN solutions (28-0-0 or 32-0-0, but losses can still be significant.
There are a number of ways to decrease volatilization of UAN applications:
For Example. Wheat is to be top dressed with 100 lb N/acre using UAN solution applied with stream bars. 50% of the UAN solution contains urea, so in this example only 50 lb N can be potentially lost as NH3. Streaming liquid N results in less potential loss than surface broadcast applications, so under severe conditions (where high volatilization rates are expected), 25% of that 50 lb of N might be lost as NH3. So total N loss under these conditions could be expected to be 12-13 lb N/acre. IF the fertilizer cost is $0.50/lb of N then this relates to a loss of $6-7/acre and this is the figure that should be used to help determine the most appropriate nitrogen application techniques. Remember that this is a "high loss" scenario and that if rainfall greater than greater than ¼ inch occurs within 3 days of N application, losses would probably not be this significant.
Most sprayers can be equipped with liquid fertilizer stream bars to allow accurate and uniform application. The Chafer liquid fertilizer stream bars can be used on many different brands and configurations of sprayers around the world.
When you order stream bars, you will need to know the following information to help us determine the optimal configuration and maintain the ideal application rate and pressure range.
- Nozzle spacing: (15" or 20")
- Spraying speed: (We need an approximate operating speed range, for example 10-12mph)
- Application Rate Range: (For example, 12-20 gallons per acre of 28% nitrogen)
- Sprayer Plumbing Brand: (For example, Spraying Systems, Hardi, etc)
Benefits Of Stream Bars
The benefits of using the Chafer liquid fertilizer stream bars is that each of the four outlets are ported to ensure consistency over a wide range of operating pressures. The bars are completely unaffected by the height of the boom, stream bars will produce a uniform vertical stream of fertilizer with no overlap. These Chafer Stream Bars are adaptable for a wide variety of product application by using specific orifices and adjusting sprayer pressure to maintain operation in a 25 PSI - 50 PSI range. They can be used to apply 28%, 30%, or 32% liquid nitrogen to crops such as wheat which makes them an excellent selection for No-Till farming applications. Compared to a typical 3 hole fertilizer nozzle, the stream bars increase coverage on surface residue while decreasing the amount of N loss via volatilization.