This is all news to me.  Who in their right mind is broadcasting any N going into winter?  I see lots of manure going on in fall, but a lot of that is being injected and is done due to a lack of storage space for the entire winter.  surface applied manure is put on select fields that don't have a wash way into any streams, ditches, etc. 

We have been employing more cover crops for the fall simply to capture remaining N and hold it in place until spring.  On sloping land covers also help cut down significantly on wind and snow melt erosion.  Plus I like the look of green fields going into fall (does that count?)

I don't think public perception is down on chemical fertilizer.  I think the organic crowd cringes with anything called chemical.  What is going to be more of a problem for crops destined for human consumption is manures.  8 month application to harvest is an window that does not work for more farms.  More of a problem for mixed animal/veggie operations or those near working animal farms. 

I would be more worried about input prices and soft markets.  Those will be more of a problem in the near term.