By Chad Hart
The Useful to Usable (U2U) climate initiative recently launched a new online decision support tool, Corn Split N, that helps farmers and farm advisors manage the application of in-field nitrogen for maximum crop yields and minimum environmental damage.
The free tool, available for use in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas, combines historical weather data and fieldwork conditions with economic considerations to determine the feasibility and profitability of completing a post-planting nitrogen application for corn production. The product will be expanded in 2015 to seven additional North Central states.
Chad Hart, Corn Split N local project coordinator and crop markets specialist at Iowa State University, shared information about the tool at the Integrated Crop Management conference in Ames Dec. 3.
“Traditionally, farmers have applied nitrogen to the soil in a single pass either in the fall or in the spring before planting," Hart said. "However, research has shown that by splitting the nitrogen over two intervals, applying it once in the fall or spring when the soil is not saturated and the temperature is between 50 – 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and then a second time when the plants are in the ground and need it the most, will ultimately lead to better results because less fertilizer will be needed overall and not as much will be lost in run off.”
He said that nitrogen management of corn includes many factors. One factor is the timing of the application, which varies depending on the weather and soil conditions. Corn Split N tool’s historical climate data is designed to assist farmers pinpoint when nitrogen should be applied for best results.
Because the post-planting application must be done before the corn gets too tall, estimates of corn development stages based on location, selected planting date and the accumulated corn growing degree days (GDD) for the year are also factored into the tool. GDD accumulations and associated corn growth beyond the current day are estimated based on the historical 30-year (1981-2010) average GDD accumulation for a location.
Hart noted that the Corn Split N tool helps farmers quantify the costs and benefits under an average, worst and best case scenario when doing a post-planting nitrogen application, even taking into account two passes of ground equipment in the fields.
Farmers get customized results based on their planting and fertilization schedule, local costs and available equipment. In addition, a summarized fieldwork table and crop calendar makes it easy to see how schedule adjustments might affect their ability to fertilize on time.
To learn more, visit Scenarios and Split Nitrogen Timing and Application Methods at https://mygeohub.org/groups/u2u/.
Corn Split NDST is part of the U2UDST suite of tools created to help farmers and agricultural advisors manage increasingly variable weather and climate conditions across the Corn Belt. The tools incorporate historical climate data to help inform purchasing, marketing and activity planning throughout the growing cycle. Data in all tools is updated on a regular basis, even daily in some cases.
Source:iastate.edu