Soil Fertility

Precision manure applicator

Precision Manure Application on Display at Manure Expo

September 27, 2019
Extension Engineer Rick Koelsch shares highlights from the 2019 Manure Expo. Precision technology paired with well-designed application equipment was key to achieving uniformity in manure fertilizer applications.

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manure

3 Resources on How Animal Manure Can Benefit Your Soils

June 4, 2019
Animal manure can be a valuable soil nutrient. Three stories at Water.unl.edu explore how manure improves soil fertility and productivity, how poultry manure can be managed in crop production, and how composted beef manure can be added to sugar beet production.

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Figure 1. When making decisions for your farm, check out some of the on-farm research results from 2018 to see what other growers learned.
Figure 1. When making decisions for your farm, check out some of the on-farm research results from 2018 to see what other growers learned.

Extension Releases Results from 2018 Farmer-Conducted Research

April 12, 2019
An online database of results from the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network allows users to search and filter data from over 800 Nebraska on-farm research studies dating back to 1990.

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Figure showing the marginal net returns to N fertilizer application for irrigated corn following corn and corn following soybean. The analysis was done for $4/bu corn and fertilizer costs of 7 lb N and 9 lb N equal to value of one bushel of grain or of $0.57/lb N and $0.44/lb N, respectively.

Effects on Profitability and Nitrogen Loss from Reducing N Rate for Corn

February 5, 2019
This study looks at how various reductions in nitrogen application rates in corn might reduce nitrogen loss to the environment and what the costs of those changes would be in yield and profit.

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Routes of nitrogen loss in the soil

Nitrogen Inhibitors for Improved Fertilizer Use Efficiency

January 14, 2019
This article looks at how some nitrogen inhibitors temporarily reduce populations of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria, the soil bacteria responsible for converting ammonium to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate as well as what to look for in product claims.

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Chart of grain yield (averages for 15 site-years) with five P application practices.

Fertilizer P for Corn: Update of Research Findings and Revised Recommendations

January 9, 2019
Results of research conducted since 2000 to address fertilizer phosphorus (P) for corn will be reviewed. The current fertilizer P recommendations for corn will be discussed and revised recommendations presented at the 2019 Crop Production Clinics.

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Chart of nitro use efficiency and partial profits

Profit and Nitrogen Use Efficiency Gain Using Sensor-Guided Fertigation

January 9, 2019
A UNL study of sensor-based and model-informed fertigation treatments confirms that sensor fertigation treatments are consistently the most profitable and efficient methods of applying N compared to current best management practices (BMPs).

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Cattle grazing a corn field
Cows grazing corn residue may not remove as much organic material and as many nutrients as might be expected, but they will likely redistribute some nutrients in the field due to their traffic patterns.

Nutrient Removal by Cows Grazing Corn Residue

November 5, 2018
Nutrient removal by cows grazing corn residue may not be as much as you might think. Here a livestock and a forage specialist break down the numbers and look at removal rates for organic matter and minerals.

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