Profitable Nitrogen Rates for Corn with Dr. Carrie Laboski

Nitrogen is an important nutrient for corn which, when applied as a fertilizer, can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can lead to negative impacts on human health, water quality, plant health, and the environment. This episode, Carrie discusses her work testing nitrogen rate recommendation tools and how we can best balance profitability, plant health, and the environment. Tune in to learn: What goes on the scales to determine a profitable rate What kinds of tools can be used to recommend Nitrogen fertilizer rates Which tools work best for recommending Nitrogen fertilizer rates How the research team was able to test across eight midwestern states If you would like to find transcripts for this episode or sign up for our newsletter, please visit our website: http://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/ Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don’t forget to subscribe. If you would like to reach out to Carrie, you can find her here: laboski@wisc.edu Twitter: @NPKetc Website: NPKetc.soils.wisc.edu Resources CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b7D2E93BA-187A-EC11-813E-9EA8B7C5905F%7d  The MRTN Approach to Making Nitrogen Rate Recommendations: Background and Implementation: https://doi.org/10.1002/crso.20180 Introduction to Nitrogen Management YouTube Video, Part 1/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBEp69PsYY Introduction to Nitrogen Management YouTube Video, Part 2/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YgHfsvaODc Introduction to Nitrogen Management YouTube Video, Part 3/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItaYO9Phydo Introduction to Nitrogen Management YouTube Video, Part 4/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE_eAoC6jiY Related Papers Ransom, C.J., N.R. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, D.B. Myers, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, J.F. Shanahan. 2020. Corn nitrogen rate recommendation tool’s performance across eight US Midwest corn belt states. Agron J. 2020;112:470-492. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20235 Bean, G.M., N.R. Kitchen, K.S. Veum, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, M. Yost. 2020. Relating Four-Day Soil Respiration to Corn Nitrogen Fertilizer Needs Across 49 U.S. Midwest Fields. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 2020; 84:1195-1208. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20091 Clark, J.D., K.S. Veum, F.G. Fernandez, , N.R. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, D.E. Kaiser, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, C.J. Rosen, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2020. Soil sample timing, nitrogen fertilization, and incubation length influence anaerobic potentially mineralizable nitrogen. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 2020;84:627-637. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20050 McDaniel, M.D., D.T. Walters, L.G. Bundy, X. Li, J.E. Sawyer, M.J. Castellano, C.A.M. Laboski, P.C. Scharf, R.A. Drijber, W.R. Horwath. 2020. Combination of biological and chemical soil tests best predict maize nitrogen response. Agron. J. 2020;112:1263-1278. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20335   Bean, G.M., C.J. Ransom, N.R. Kitchen, P.C. Scharf, K.S. Veum, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, and J.E. Sawyer, J. 2021. Soil hydrologic grouping guide which soil and weather properties best estimate corn nitrogen need. Agron. J. Accepted. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20888 Ransom, C.J., J. Clark, G.M. Bean, C. Bandura, M.E. Shafer, N.R. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, D. B. Myers, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, J. Shanahan. 2001. Data from a public-industry partnership for enhancing corn nitrogen research. Agron. J. 2021;1-8. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20812 Ransom, C.J., N.R. Kitchen, J.E. Sawyer, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, D.B. Myers, E.D. Nafziger, P.C. Scharf, J.F. Shanahan. 2021. Improving publicly available corn nitrogen rate recommendation tools with soil and weather measurements. Agron. J. 2021;113:2068–2090. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20627 Clark, J.D., F.G. Fernandez, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, N.R. Kitchen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2020. Weather and soil in the US Midwest influence the effectiveness of single- and split-nitrogen applications in corn production. Agron. J. 2020;112:5288-5299. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20446. Clark, J.D., F.G. Fernandez, K.S. Veum, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, D.E. Kaiser, N.R. Kitchen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, C.J. Rosen, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2020. Soil-Nitrogen, Potentially Mineralizable-Nitrogen, and Field Condition Information Marginally Improves Corn Nitrogen Management. Agron. J. 2020;112:4332-4343. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20335 Clark, J.D., F.G. Fernandez, K.S. Veum, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, D.E. Kaiser, N.R. Kitchen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, C.J. Rosen, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2020. Adjusting Corn Nitrogen Management by Including a Mineralizable-Nitrogen Test with the Preplant and Presidedress Nitrate Tests. Agron. J. 2020;112:3050-3064. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20228 Clark, J.D., F.G. Fernandez, K.S. Veum, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, D.E. Kaiser, N.R. Kitchen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, C.J. Rosen, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2019. Predicting Economic Optimal Nitrogen Rate with the Anaerobic Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen Test. Agron. J. 111:3329-3338. Ransom, C.J., N.R. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, D.B. Myers, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2019. Statistical and machine learning methods evaluated for incorporating soil and weather into corn nitrogen recommendations. Computers Electronics Ag 164:104872. Clark, J.D., K.S. Veum, F.G. Fernandez, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, D.W. Franzen, D.E. Kaiser, N.R. Kitchen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, C.J. Rosen, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2019. United States Midwest Soil and Weather Conditions Influence Anaerobic Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen. Soil Sci. Am. J. 83:1137-1147. Qin, Z., D.B. Myers, C.J. Ransom, N.R. Kitchen, S. Liang, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, B.D. Malone, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, J.F. Shanahan. 2018. Application of Machine Learning Methodologies for Predicting Corn Economic Optimal Nitrogen Rate. Agron. J. 110:2596-2607. Yost, M.A., K.S. Veum, N.R. Kitchen, J.E. Sawyer, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, and E.D. Nafziger. 2018. Evaluation of the Soil Health Nutrient Tool for Corn Nitrogen Recommendations Across Eight Midwest States. J. Soil Water Conserv. 75(5)587-592. Bean, G.M., N. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, and E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, J.S. Schepers, J.F. Shanahan. 2018. Improving an Active-Optical Reflectance Sensor Algorithm Using Soil and Weather Information. Agron. J. 110:2541-2551.  Bean, G.M., N. Kitchen, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, and E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, J.S. Schepers, J.F. Shanahan. 2018. Active-Optical Reflectance Sensing Corn Algorithms Evaluated over the US Midwest Corn Belt. Agron. J. 110:2552-2562.  Kitchen, N.R., J.F. Shanahan, C.J. Ransom, C.J. Bandura, G.M. Bean, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, J.D. Clark, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernández, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, Z. Qing, J.E. Sawyer, and M. Shafer. 2017. A Public-Industry Partnership for Enhancing Corn Nitrogen Research and Datasets: Project Description, Methodology, and Outcomes. Agron. J. 109:2371-2388. Morris, T.F., T. S. Murrell, D.B. Beegle, J. Camberato, R. Ferguson, J. Grove, Q. Ketterings, P.M. Kyveryga, C. Laboski, J. McGrath, J. Meisinger, J.J. Melkonian, B.N. Moebius-Clune, E. Nafziger, D. Osmond, J. Sawyer, P. Scharf, W. Smith, J. Spargo, H. Van Es, and H. Yang. 2018. Strengths and Limitations of Nitrogen Recommendations, Tests and Models for Corn. Agronomy J. 110:1-37. Laboski, C.A.M., J.E. Sawyer, D.T. Walters, L.G. Bundy, R.G. Hoeft, G.W. Randall, and T.W. Andraski. 2008. Evaluation of the Illinois soil nitrogen test in the North Central region of the United States. Agron. J. 100:1070-1076. Sponsored by METER Group. 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