Potassium Nutrition in the

Northern Great Plains

 Outline: Potassium (K)
Nutrition in the Northern
Great Plains
• Role of K in crop production
• Soil K and soil test levels
• Crop uptake of K
• K deficiencies
• Crop responses to K
• Chloride (Cl) response
• Fertilizer K

Photo courtesy of Lyle Cowell, SWP

What Is the Role of K
in Plants?
• K activates enzyme reactions
• K controls water uptake and transpiration
• K influences energy production in photosynthesis and
respiration
• K supports photosynthate transport
• K fosters nitrate-nitrogen (N) uptake and protein
synthesis
• K is required for starch synthesis in seeds
Soil K

Unavailable (90 to 98%)

K
K K+ K+
Soil Minerals
Soil Water K+
(feldspar, mica) K+
K K K Readily
available
(0.1 to
2%)
K+ K+ K+ K+
Soil Colloid
Soil Colloid
Trapped K K+ K+ K+ K+
Soil Colloid
Slowly available (1 to 10%)
Soil Testing Methods
for K
• Most soil tests for K are based on either an ammonium
acetate extraction or a similar extraction
• In some regions with low CEC soils, K rates are often
based on the ratio of K relative to other bases, such as
Ca and Mg
• Ion exchange membranes which measure the soil
supply rate of K
Median Ammonium Acetate
Equivalent Soil Test K Levels,
2005
Median Ammonium Acetate
Equivalent Soil Test K
Levels, 2005

AB SK MB
201 254 207

MT ND
259 265
2005

North American-wide
154 ppm
K Deficient Areas on
Canadian Prairies

May be deficient in K
May need K for irrigated crops
Potassium Soil Test Rating
and Recommendations
- Soil test recommendations vary among labs.
- Most labs use a set of regional crop response data to develop
fertilizer recommendations based on a K soil test. An example:
Wheat K2O recommendations using band application (Agvise Labs)
Yield Soil test K, ppm

bu/A 0-40 41-80 81-120 121-160 161-200 201-250 251-750 +750

Fertilizer K recommendation, lb K2O/A

30 35 30 20 10 10 10 10 0

40 50 40 30 15 10 10 10 0

50 65 50 35 20 10 10 10 0

60 75 60 40 25 10 10 10 0

70 90 70 50 30 10 10 10 0
What Are the K
Requirements of Crops
throughout the Season?

Photo courtesy of Lyle Cowell

 K Uptake of Wheat During
the Growing Season

Jacobsen et al., 1992 (graphic from Korb et al., 2002)

Crop Uptake of K

K uptake in
Crop Yield/A total crop, lb K2O/A
Wheat 40 bu 80 (19)*
Canola 35 bu 89 (20)
Peas 50 bu 150 (39)
Barley silage 4.5 tons 132
Alfalfa 3 tons 180

*K removed in grain in parenthesis.

Potassium Deficiency
Symptoms in Barley

Barley grain yield, bu/A 58

60 49
50
38
40

30

20 11

10

0
0 60 120 240
K2O rate in lb/A
Potassium Budget in the
Northern Great Plains
Region, 2000-2001
State or Crop Fertilizer Recoverable Balance
Province Removal Applied Manure
(R) (F) (M) F-R F+M-R

--------------------- K2O, million lb ---------------------

Alberta 607 128 136 -479 -343

Saskatchewan 640 59 43 -581 -538

Manitoba 332 92 45 -240 -195

Montana 352 42 9 -310 -301

North Dakota 609 52 13 -557 -544

K Deficiency Symptoms
K Deficiency Symptoms
Plant Tissue K Guidelines for
Crops … An Example

% K in plant tissue

Crop type -- stage Deficient Low Sufficient High

Wheat – tillering <1.2 1.3 – 1.5 1.6 – 3.0 3.1 – 9.9

Wheat – boot <1.4 1.5 – 1.9 2.0 – 2.4 2.5 – 3.5

Wheat – heading <1.2 1.3 – 1.5 1.6 – 3.0 3.1 – 9.9

Alfalfa – top 6 in. <1.7 1.8 – 2.4 2.5 – 3.8 3.9 – 4.7

Agvise Labs
Crop Responses to K

• While many northern Great Plains soils have abundant

K, the region also has areas with very low soil K
• It is not uncommon to find areas of Saskatchewan and
Alberta with soils testing 30 to 50 ppm K/A
• Crops respond to K application in these low K soils
 Barley Response to Soil K
Levels and Fertilizer K2O

80
Soil K 25-50 ppm/A
% Grain Yield Increase

70
60
50
40
Soil K 50-75 ppm/A
30
20 Soil K 75-100 ppm/A

10
0
0 12 24

Added K, lbs K2O/A added to seed row

N and P added to soil test recommendation D. Walker, Lacombe, AB

 Barley, Wheat, and Canola
Response to K

70
60
Barley
Grain yield, bu/A

50
72 ppm K/A
40
33 ppm K/A 50 ppm K/A Canola
30
Wheat
20 30 ppm K/A
36 ppm K/A

10
0
0 100 200 400

Added K (lb K 2O/A Broadcast + Incorp)

N and P added to soil test recommendation Henry and Halstead, 1968

K Benefits Crop Growth and
Yield Longevity of Alfalfa
Stands

• K increases carbohydrate in the crown roots of

alfalfa during fall growth to increase
- Winter hardiness
- Early spring re-growth
 K Helps Reduce Winterkill
in Alfalfa
Manitoba - Soil K 116 ppm/A (0 to 6 in.)
No K 100 lb K2O/yr
100
Stand density, %

80

60

40

20

0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
Plant counts in May as % of those the previous September
Crop Response on
High K Soils
• Yield increases often occur from potash applied on soils
not deficient in K. Why?
• K responses as a result of:
- Cold soils in the spring (slow root growth and
nutrient uptake)
- Dry soils (droughty conditions reduce K diffusion)
- Field (landscape) variability
- Cl ion (Cl-) response
 Barley Response to Starter K
and Seeding Date

60 7 bu
50
6 bu
Barley Yield (bu/A)

40 3 bu
Check
30
20 K2O
20

10

0
April 6 May 6 June 3

Soil K levels - High Dubbs, Montana State Univ.

 Crop Response to Added K
in High K Soils in Montana
(264 Sites)
Frequency of response, %
0 20 40 60 80

Winter Wheat 97 Expts. 5.5 bu/A

Spring Wheat 33 Expts 4.8 bu/A
Feed Barley 48 Expts. 3.9 bu/A
Malt Barley (irr.) 10 Expts. 9.2 bu/A
Alfalfa 36 Expts. 0.35 t/A

Corn Silage 22 Expts. 2.8 t/A

Potatoes (irr.) 18 Expts. 25 cwt/A

Each crop represents 2 to 8 cropping years

Soils testing > 600 ppm (1967-1979)
Skogley & Haby 1981
 Crop Response to Added K in
Alberta (548 sites)
Exch. K Total Responsive Average
ppm/A sites sites,% Resp., cwt/A
0 - 50 37 70 6.1
51 - 100 132 73 4.8
101 - 150 115 55 2.5
151 - 200 100 52 2.4
201 - 300 99 46 2.7
301 - 400 37 43 2.4
> 400 28 21 1.9

Barley, oats, and rape – 1968-74

Lopetinsky 1977
 Frequency Distribution
of Soil K on a 220 x 220 ft.
Grid at Mundare, AB

35
30 Mean = 135 ppm
Frequency (%)

25 Mode = 108 ppm

20
15
10
5
0
59-101 101- 143- 185- 227- 269-
143 185 227 269 311
Soil K (ppm)
Penny et al., 1996
Chloride---An Essential
Plant Nutrient
• The deficiency of Cl in the soil can account for crop
responses to KCl application.
• Earliest report of Cl crop response ... table salt (NaCl)
in mid 1800s
• Recognized as an essential micronutrient since the
1950s
• Research in the late 1970s revealed insufficient levels
in many areas
Crop Responses to Chloride

• Chloride has been shown to have an effect on:

– Root rot and foliar diseases in cereal crops
– Seed weight at harvest, especially barley, by extending the
grain filling period
– Reducing physiological leaf spot in cereal crops on fields
where soil Cl is less than 10 lb/A (24 in. depth)
– Increasing crop yields
Physiological Leaf Spot on
Kestrel Winter Wheat

No Chloride Chloride
Chloride May Improve
Crop Yields

• ~ 200 university trials in KS, MN, MT, ND, SD, MB,

and SK have evaluated Cl response in wheat and
barley
– Included non-responsive and high Cl sites
• Significant yield response in 48% of trials
• Average yield response of 5 bu/A
 Yield Boost from Chloride
Depends on Wheat Variety
12
1996 1997 1998
10
Yield response, bu/A

8
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
-6
Barrie Cora Grandin Karma Kyle
Fertilizer K Management
Once in the soil,
all fertilizer
sources are the
same form as
found in the soil
(K+). This is the
form taken up by
plants.
K +

KCl K2SO4
What Happens to
Fertilizer K in the Soil?

• Absorbed by crop in year 1:

– 20 to 60% of applied K
– Highest recovery on low K soils

• Slowly available K (future years):

– Bulk of remaining K in most soil types
– Future supply of K

Available K Slowly Unavailable K

Available K
Fertilizer K Sources

Source Analysis
Potassium chloride, KCl 0-0-60 (62)
Potassium sulfate, K2SO4 0-0-50 - 17
Potassium nitrate, KNO3 13-0-44
Potassium-magnesium sulfate,
K2SO4.2MgSO4 0-0-22-22-11
Potassium thiosulfate, K2S2O3 0-0-25-17
Fertilizer K Placement
 Barley Response to KCl
Placement and Rate

30
Grain Yield Increase (bu/A)

Seed row
25 Side band

Broadcast
20

15

10

0
0 15 30 60 90 120 150 180 240
lb K2O/A

N and P added to soil test recommendation SIP Soil Fertility Rpt, 1968
 Safe Rates of Seed Row K
application (Saskatchewan)

• Seed row application of K2O should not exceed

(1 in. spread, 6 to 7 in. rows):
– Cereals – 50 lb K2O/A
– Canola – 20 lb K2O/A
– Dry pea – 15 lb K2O/A
• Combined P2O5 and K2O in the seed row should also not
exceed the recommended safe rates for K2O alone

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

 Potassium Does Not Cause
Roots to Proliferate

Proportion of roots observed in K solution (%)

• Split-root experiment 100
Corn 17 days old
• Percent of the total root
system on the side with 80
K was the same as that
on the side without K 60

• Effects of K on root
growth may not be 40
localized as is found
with P 20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Proportion of roots expected for no K effect (%)

Classen and Barber, 1977

Be Sure and
Use Soil
Testing to
Monitor Soil K
Supplies
Summary—
K Nutrition in the Northern
Great Plains
• K nutrition is critical to crop production
• Most northern Great Plains soils are high in K, allowing
for a net removal of soil K each year
• Crops take up as much K as N during growth, with only a
small proportion removed in grain
• Where deficient, crop response to K is greatest for
barley, followed by wheat and canola
• Crop responses to muriate of potash (KCl) can be a Cl
response
 International Plant Nutrition Institute
655 Engineering Drive, Suite 110
Norcross, GA 30092-2604
Phone: 770-447-0335; Fax: 770-448-0439
www.ipni.net

Reference #06111