At a minimum fill in the columns that are flagged with an asterisk (*). These columns are required to calculate your state's fertilizer recommendations. Note that a required checkbox column should just be left unchecked if that item is not present or does not apply.
Columns flagged with a cross (†) are optional but may be required for some crops or in some situations. If you have the data for optional columns, it's a good idea to enter the data even though it may not be required.
Unflagged columns are not used by your state's recommendations. You can fill in the unflagged columns if you want for completeness, but the values you enter in these columns will not affect the recommendations.
Once you've filled in a table, click the Next button to proceed to the next table. At any time you can click the Back button to return to the previous table (note this is not the same as clicking your browser's "Back" button) or the Restart button to start over with the calculator. If available, you can click the Calculate button to calculate and display the results without proceeding to the next table. If you need more rows in the Field/Crop table, click the Add Rows button after entering the number of additional rows you want to add (the default is 3).
When you're all done entering data and have the results you want, you may want to print a report (see the printing tips below). You can also click the Download Plan button to save your data as an MMP plan file on your local computer. This plan file can be opened by the current version of MMP.
Subfield Optionally, you can enter a subfield ID for each field if a field has been subdivided into subfields.
Predominant Soil Type Select the field's predominant soil type. The pick list contains all soils for the county you selected earlier.
Each soil description in the list is made up of four pieces of information, as in this example:
Beaucoup SIL (Bb 0-2%)
In this example, Beaucoup is the soil's component name, SIL is the soil's surface texture, Bb is the soil's map unit symbol, and 0-2% is the soil's slope range.
Tip: Click the Soil Info button to generate a report with information on all soils in the county.
Planned Crop Select the field's planned crop. The pick list contains all crops for which fertilizer recommendations are available for the state you selected earlier. The crop's yield units are indicated in parentheses following the crop name.
Tip: Click the Crop Info button to generate a report with information on all crops.
Planned Crop's Yield Enter the planned crop's yield goal in the units indicated after the crop name.
Planned Crop's % Legume With a planned forage crop, enter the percent of the stand that will be legume.
Previous Crop Select the field's previous crop. The crop's yield units are indicated in parentheses following the crop name
Note: If a cover crop will be planted between the previous year's crop and the planned crop, select the cover crop as the previous crop.
Previous Crop's Yield Enter the previous crop's yield in the units indicated after the crop name.
Previous Crop's % Legume With a previous forage crop, enter the percent of the stand that was legume.
Irrigated w/ Water Check this box if the field is irrigated with water.
P Enter the field's phosphorus level.
P Test Select the test that was used to determine the field's soil phosphorus level. If a state doesn't have different P2O5 recommendations depending on the soil test that was used, you can select N/A.
K Enter the field's potassium level.
Mg Enter the field's magnesium level.
Ca Enter the field's calcium level.
Na Enter the field's sodium level.
Al Enter the field's aluminum level.
Check if in lbs/ac Check this box if the P, K, Mg, Ca, Na and Al levels are in lbs/acre; leave this box unchecked if the test levels are in ppm or are unitless.
Soil pH Enter the field's soil or water pH.
Buffer pH Enter the field's buffer pH.
Est. CEC This column shows the field's estimated cation exchange capacity (in milli-equivalents per 100 grams).
CEC Enter the field's cation exchange capacity if different from the estimate. If you leave this column blank, MMP uses the estimated CEC in any calculations that require CEC.
NO3-N (ppm) Enter the field's nitrate level.
Soil Test Data Tips
Note: Recommendations include any legume N credit from the previous year's crop, but no other credits. You may need to reduce the fertilizer recommendations to account for previous manure applications, previous multi-year P and K fertilizer applications, or planned applications of irrigation water nitrates or other nutrients (such as starter fertilizers) that are always applied.