Careful fertilizer management is important in today's crop production systems. Fertilizer is a costly input and continues to become more expensive. Further, fertilizer mismanagement can lead to nutrient losses to the environment, with potential negative impacts to water quality. A sound fertilizer recommendation is based on the accumulation of the best science available and takes into consideration profitable crop production and protection of the environment. A recommendation is not only comprised of the amount of a particular nutrient to use. Equally important are the guidelines for fertilizer placement, fertilizer application scheduling, and irrigation methods.
--- Principles of Sound Fertilizer Recommendations