• Due to higher yields, commodity prices and crop input costs, growers are reviewing all potential barriers to top grain production, including micronutrient deficiencies.
• In the major crops and production areas of North America, the micronutrients most often supplied by fertilization include zinc, manganese, boron and iron.
• Micronutrient deficiencies can be detected by visual symptoms on crops and by testing soils and plant tissues.
• The most reliable micronutrient soil tests are for zinc, boron, copper, and manganese. Though adequate, these tests are not as precise as those for soil pH, potassium and phosphorus.
• Plant tissue analysis is more reliable than soil testing for identifying many micronutrient problems, and can also supplement soil test information.
• Most often, micronutrients are soil-applied in a band at planting, or foliar-applied, as these methods allow lower use rates of sometimes expensive materials.

Micronutrients are essential elements that are used by plants in small quantities. For most micronutrients, crop uptake is less than one pound per acre. In spite of this low requirement, critical plant functions are limited if micronutrients are unavailable, resulting in plant abnormalities, reduced growth and lower yield. In such cases, expensive, high requirement crop inputs such as nitrogen and water may be wasted. Because of higher yields, higher commodity prices and higher costs of crop inputs, growers are reviewing all potential barriers to top grain production, including micronutrient deficiencies. This Crop Insights will discuss general micronutrient requirements, deficiency symptoms, soil and plant sampling, and fertilization practices. Future Crop Insights articles will discuss specific crops, their micronutrient or secondary nutrient requirements and management considerations.