Samples will be used to understand soil health and to estimate the amount of nitrogen available for crop growth in the root zone on farms participating in its new Nitrogen Use Efficiency Project.

All of this is part of a three-year project funded by a Conservation Innovation Grant from the USDA-NRCS that will assist farmers in fine-tuning their cropping systems, making sure they get the most bushels of corn per pound of nitrogen possible.

“It is only the beginning,” explains Megan Chawner, Nitrogen Use Efficiency Project coordinator. Later in the season, they will collect additional plant and soil samples and field management information.

“We will use these measurements to calculate nitrogen use efficiency, a tool that can help farmers know how much of their applied nitrogen ends up in the plant,” states Chawner. Having a deeper understanding of nitrogen dynamics will allow for more efficient use of nutrients, benefiting both a farmer’s bottom line and state water resources.

The project does not stop at data collection. Collaboration is at its core. In the coming years, the project will add additional farms, offer field days to share lessons learned and develop a project database and online forum to connect farmers across Wisconsin.

Information will flow in all directions, affording farmers, researchers and other partners the opportunity to work together on developing applicable nitrogen management strategies.  FG

—From University of Wisconsin Extension news release