Minnesota/Kentucky fertility based on ENERGY | The on going debate of nitrogen in corn production has been heated for at least thirty years, when I was in collage the debate was 1.66 lbs. of nitrogen per bushel of corn?
In 1985 we where using .66 lbs. per bushel of corn, since then we have seen several programs from 200 to 280 lbs. of nitrogen which is still .90 to 1.19 lbs. of nitrogen per bushel of corn based of 220 to 245 bushel per acre corn this would be the grower numbers and in central Illinois.
The farms which I have watched for twenty plus years would be .50 lbs. per bushel of corn, Stockton, IA grower is .38 lbs. of nitrogen per bushel of corn, Osage, IA grower is .43 lbs. of nitrogen per bushel of nitrogen, we have been .50 to .45 lbs. of nitrogen per bushel of corn the great thing everyone except Osage, IA grower is corn on corn.
We need to really look at what we are doing in our nitrogen programs!
The biggest concern I find would be the Calcium to Magnesium ratio, biological activity looking at humus, and the ratio between Nitrate and Ammonia levels, we have found the higher Ammonia level compared to nitrate the better biological activity, the higher yields.
We have found that this is anywhere from $21.00 to $60.00 per acre savings, as Keith Schlapkohl would say reallocation of recourses (ROR), I would imagine that these grower are trying to figure what they can do to increase the longevity of their nitrogen program. |
Nitrogen corn on corn
