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Some Things to Know About Nitrogen

Plants cannot survive without nitrogen (N). Healthy plants contain up to 5% of this vital nutrient and the Earth’s atmosphere is about 78% N…it is all around us. There are approximately 75 million lb of N in the atmosphere above each acre. Huge amounts of N are also present in soils, water bodies, and fossil fuels. But although N is in abundant supply, it must be converted to a different form before plants can use it.

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Dr. Cliff Snyder Bio/Contact

Fertilizer Nitrogen BMPs to Limit Losses that Contribute to Global Warming

The right fertilizer N management decisions in producing corn and other crops can help reduce the impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming potential. These fertilizer best management practices (BMPs) can go a long way toward making the most of applied N, for economic benefit as well as environmental. Science and experience show that the impact of a fertilizer BMP on crop yield, quality, profitability, and nutrient loss to water or air is greatly influenced by other agronomic practices such as plant population, cultivar, tillage, and pest management, as well as proven conservation practices. A new 8-page publication by IPNI Nitrogen Program Dr. Cliff Snyder, titled “Fertilizer Nitrogen BMPs to Limit Losses that Contribute to Global Warming”, takes a closer look and provides a practical overview. It is available in print or as a PDF file at this site. Click here.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cropping Systems and the Influence of Fertilizer Management

Scientific staff of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) have prepared a literature review to extend information that will lead to a better understanding of fertilizer N management practices that minimize global warming potential.

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MANAGING CROP NITROGEN FOR WEATHER SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE FROM IPNI

The contents of a new publication titled Managing Crop Nitrogen for Weather, based on the proceedings of a symposium at the 2006 meeting of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), provide details of experimental data and experiences of those engaged in efforts to improve prediction of crop nitrogen needs in response to weather conditions.

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Cotton Response to Combinations of Nitrogen and Potassium

Cotton continues to be one of the major row crops in Mississippi Delta Region of Arkansas. Nitrogen and K fertilization of cotton in Arkansas is based on preplant soil test NO3-N and K levels and petiole NO3-N and K concentrations between first bloom and boll opening. This diagnostic approach is based on field research in late 70's and early 80's and enabled many Arkansas and other mid-south growers to produce high cotton yields for many years. However, cotton production practices have dramatically changed during the past two decades.

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New Nitrogen Fertilizer Products and Technologies

Papers from the session New N Fertilizer Products and Technologies chaired by IPNI at the 2007 International Nitrogen Conference held in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil October 01 - 04, 2007.

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Impact of Rising Nitrogen Prices

Natural gas represents a major portion of the cost of ammonia production, and concern continues about effects on nitrogen (N) fertilizer prices.

Impact of Rising N Prices

USE OF YIELD GOALS FOR PROVIDING N RATE SUGGESTIONS: GENERAL CONCEPT

Recent studies in the North Central region have shown a poor relationship between optimum yield of individual sites and optimum fertilizer N rate. The outcome has been the development of fertilizer recommendation approaches that do not consider site yield goal. This causes one to ponder how so many recommendation programs utilizing yield goal were developed in the first place and have continued in use for more than 40 years. It appears to be an appropriate time to review the general concept of use of yield goals in N recommendations. Such a review is the primary objective of this paper, presented by Paul Fixen at the 2006 Northcentral Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference with a secondary objective of relating the traditional concept to the recent studies suggesting a very limited role for yield goal in predicting N fertilizer need.

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From the new series...

WILL BIOTECHNOLOGY REPLACE NITROGEN FERTILIZER?

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Managing Nitrogen to Protect Water

Nitrogen fertilization is essential to crop production. Farmers can’t grow enough food to meet ever increasing world demands without it. The good news is that with proper management of available N fertilizer sources, farmers can achieve their yield goals and sustain water quality at the same time.

Read this Enviro-Brief