Headline : From Symptoms to Solutions: Addressing the Underlying Causes of Water Quality Degradation – Part 3

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In business, it all comes down to profit. In farming, profit comes down to things we can’t control like the weather and the markets, and the things we can control like our management decisions. 

One of those key management decisions is determining how much nitrogen to apply to our crops. In part two of this series, I described the yield/input/profit paradox that leads many producers to over apply nitrogen, reducing their profitability in the process. Table 3 in this post should make this a bit easier to understand. 

Let’s do the same analysis again using Table 3 as a guide. As you will see, there is nothing optimal about pushing N rates up to the MRTN. Look at Column 7, the per-bushel cost of additional nitrogen to achieve the next incremental yield bump. This tool only accounts for purchased N cost. No other expenses are included. To go from 190 to 196 bushels per acre yield takes over 4 lb N/bu, for a cost of $2.33/bu just for the nitrogen. If the actual yield was less than 200 bu/acre the cost is even higher. Going beyond the 125 lb N rate starts to look very questionable if you are paying even more for N. Does it really make sense to apply the MRTN rate of 139 lb of N to push yield to the point of zero return on that last pound of N? Getting from 196 to 197.8 bu/ac yield takes almost 8 lb of N per bushel. It generates very little return over the N cost, damages the environment, and limits future productivity. 

Many farmers actually apply N well in excess of what the Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator recommends because it is ‘cheap insurance’ against unpredictable weather. The odds are they are losing money (and N) with that strategy. Squeezing out the last bushel of yield with another 25 lb of nitrogen leads to a loss of almost $10/acre. This cheap insurance is not cheap at all. In fact, it is one of the most expensive and damaging practices in agriculture.

Read more from the original article on here at understandingag.com.

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