Farming Basics vs FertAdvisor

The Farming Basics app from Alabama Extension is a gateway of information for small and beginning farmers. The app includes crop descriptions, information about major insect pests and diseases, and general management tactics. It features a fertilizer and an irrigation calculator to assist farmers with saving dollars on inputs. Other features include crop and pest alerts, location services including contact information for additional help, and a calendar of upcoming meetings and field days.

FertAdvisor assists homeowners and turfgrass practitioners in calculating the amount of lawn fertilizer needed, drop and rotary spreader calibration, and reading a fertilizer label to properly apply fertilizer to turfgrass areas. Built in calculators help you determine how much fertilizer will be needed to properly fertilize turfgrass areas, streamline calibration calculations, calculate the amount of nitrogen, phosphate and potash that will be applied to their area based on the fertilizer selected. Animations and videos guide turfgrass enthusiasts on how to take a soil sample, properly apply fertilizer using drop and rotary spreaders, calibrate a fertilizer spreader, and calculate lawn surface area. Tips on application techniques, accurate calibration, proper fertilizer timing, nitrogen source selection combine to provide users a comprehensive tool that will help ensure accurate applications and reduce misapplications that can potentially damage turfgrass, waste fertilizer and/or pose environmental risk.