As a late Friday follow-up to our story today encouraging the use of N-Serve for early spring applied anhydrous ammonia, we have more to share to back this up, and this comes from the University of Illinois based on research currently being funded by the Illinois Nutrient Research & Education Council (NREC).

 

After reviewing nitrate soil samples from nitrogen tracking studies performed at University research sites and in farmer's fields, Dr. Emerson Nafziger reports that the soil samples taken in January 2017 by UI and by Dan Schaefer of the IFCA show that there has been little loss of fall applied nitrogen.  They also found that adding N-Serve to fall ammonia decreased the percentage of recovered N that is in nitrate (leachable) form:  For the fall nitrogen applied without N-Serve, 62% of the nitrogen is in nitrate form in the soil; for the fall nitrogen applied with N-Serve, 49% is in nitrate form.  

 

Based on these research observations, the recommendation from Dr. Nafziger is this:  Using N-Serve with early applied spring ammonia should delay nitrification under current soil conditions, thereby decreasing N loss potential as we move into the spring.  

 

Thanks for sharing this 4R message and thanks for supporting the Nutrient Research & Education Council; the 75 cent per ton NREC assessment on all bulk fertilizer sold in Illinois makes this relevant and important research possible.  For more information on NREC go to www.illinoisnrec.org.