Improving the management of nitrogen in fertilizer

Biopact: With recent increases in grain and fertilizer prices, even small changes in management may significantly impact profit, as researchers report in Agronomy Journal. Varying the rate of crop production inputs such as fertilizer and seed makes intuitive sense, as farmers have long observed differences in crop yield in various areas of a single field. The availability of spatial yield information from combines equipped with yield monitors has provided a good resource for improved management.

So, optimizing inputs to match yield potential of different areas within fields may increase profit and reduce the environmental impact associated with over-application of fertilizer or pesticides. With recent substantial increases in grain and fertilizer prices, even small changes in management may have the potential to significantly impact profit from a field.

Scientists with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) compared an approach to site-specific nitrogen and seed density management for irrigated maize, based on soil properties and yield potential zones, to whole field uniform management based on current University of Nebraska best management practices (BMPs)....

Some propaganda for the Tennessee Valley Authority dclares: "Results of Fertilizer -- This is a test field of a practical operating farm on which TVA-produced phosphate has demonstrated its ability to encourage the growth of a protective vegetable cover and hence build up soil fertility. The thick growth was treated with a mixture of phosphate and lime; the almost bare area was not treated. The FDR Library, Wikimedia Commons