One basic — but crucial — tenet of agriculture is that farmers match soil moisture to their crop needs. When a field experiences drought, they might irrigate more. After heavy rainstorms, they’ll probably irrigate less.
Flexibility in how you approach your irrigation strategy improves your chances at high yields.
So why don’t more farmers manage nitrogen with a similar level of flexibility?
There are, of course, differences between water and nitrogen management:
Soil biology influences nitrogen uptake
Nitrogen availability for a plant is primarily influenced by the form of nitrogen and the source it comes from, while water availability is mostly impacted by soil texture/porosity/bulk density.
Water can also come from rain, as well as evaporate.
When water moves, plant-available nitrogen also moves. So, nitrogen may be in the soil, but not actually available for uptake by your crop.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, your crop’s yield potential might already be high because of other factors — so why put on extra nitrogen if it’s not actually necessary?
These are the kinds of decisions farmers can make easier by prioritizing in-season management.
Adaptability is the way forward — just as it has been for other in-field factors for years.
We would never decide when and how much to irrigate before the season, then just stick with that plan with zero adaptation.
So why do we take that route with nitrogen?
Why more research into in-season nitrogen management is necessary
Over several decades, there’s been plenty of research about in-season water management. Scientists have studied how to adapt irrigation strategies in-season, how different crops respond to different amounts of water, how soil types can impact irrigation strategy, and much more.
All of this research has helped farmers optimize their irrigation and improve their yields.
When it comes to nitrogen fertilizer applications, the research is way behind — despite massive potential upside.
Nitrogen is incredibly important to a healthy crop. It aids in plant tissue growth, is found in proteins and enzymes within the plant, and help roots take up other nutrients, as well as water.
The benefits available to farmers from optimizing their nitrogen management are diverse. When farmers can integrate more flexibility into their plans for nitrogen fertilizer application, they can:
Save wasted fertilizer passes
Lower their input costs (farmers who use N-Time software to optimize their nitrogen management save about $30/acre)
Avoid wasted time
Reduce harmful nitrogen runoff
The years ahead: Where nitrogen management research is headed
Although research into adaptable, in-season nitrogen management is behind where the Ag industry is with irrigation management, there is more and more work being done in this space.
Sensor-based nitrogen management research is being done at the universities of Minnesota, Nebraska-Lincoln, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and others, particularly around nitrogen management for corn crops.
At Sentinel Fertigation, this kind of research is also a huge priority for us internally. We run trials each planting season to evaluate what’s working for farmers in terms of their in-season nitrogen management flexibility, how this success is impacted by their specific region or crop, what kind of ROI is possible with better nitrogen management, and more.
Next steps: What to do about your nitrogen management
If you don’t already manage nitrogen in-season, try it on one field at first. This will allow you to test equipment and figure out what works best for your acres. You can expand from there.
If you currently make a nitrogen management plan before the season — and rarely adapt it after planting — the next step is to use data to make adjustments.
But figuring out what data to use and how to turn data into on-the-ground action steps can be tricky. If you’re interested in trying this and building a better dataset in a controlled environment, get involved with a trial.
At Sentinel Fertigation, we run dozens of these per year, all across the country. Reach out to our team if you’re interested in enrolling some of your acres into a trial — and testing out how you can maximize your in-season nitrogen management.
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