Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives
To view PDF files, you must have a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available as a free download.
NITROGEN CALCULATOR AIDS DECISION-MAKING
APRIL 20, 2009 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Are you using the right amount of fertilizer? A new tool developed with the help of an Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI) grant may be able to show you when there really isn’t any additional economic benefit to adding more nitrogen to your fields.
Nitrogen application guidelines for wheat, barley and canola in Manitoba have been around for nearly 20 years. During that time, significant changes have taken place to farm management practices. Many farmers have moved away from cropping systems that included tilling fallow to minimum till or no-till, reducing erosion and allowing for continuous cropping. In addition, varieties that were popular before 1990 are not even on the market today.
In 2004, ARDI provided a $35,000 grant to allow Western Cooperative Fertilizers Ltd (Westco), now a division of Viterra Inc., to pull together years of nitrogen response research studies. Westco conducted this work on behalf of the Manitoba Soil Fertility Advisory Committee.
All of the data relating to wheat, barley and canola yields, nitrogen applications and soil conditions has now been entered into an electronic “calculator” that farmers can use to run different scenarios, plugging in their own data for average yields, soil moisture, residual nitrogen in the soil, the cost of nitrogen fertilizer and the price of the crop. In an instant, the calculator provides guidance on what the economic consequences of applying nitrogen at different rates might be.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out when fertilizer is $750 per tonne, you’ll make less than when it’s $450 per tonne,” says Dr. Rigas Karamanos, Agronomy Manager for Viterra and the man who crunched data from more than 250 soil studies focused on nitrogen. “But, what we’re doing is zeroing in on the rate at which you make the maximum net return.”
Farmers shouldn’t expect the calculator to accurately predict yields on their farms, since there is no way to capture all the relevant factors, such as management practices, ecological conditions or inputs other than nitrogen. But, since the calculator relies upon Manitoba field data as its baseline, it does provide an important guideline.
“This tool is a very good starting point for growers making fertilizer rate decisions,” says John Heard with the Crops Branch of Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. “Our goal in making it widely available to Manitoba growers is that it will lead to enhanced production through more appropriate fertilizer rates or enhanced profitability when crop prices are low and nitrogen costs are high.”
The calculator was recently reviewed at the Manitoba Soil Fertility Advisory Committee, where a motion to make it available online to Manitoba farmers was unanimously approved. “I think there is tremendous potential for this calculator,” says committee member and University of Manitoba soil scientist Dr. Don Flaten. “I can assure you that something like this is going to become a valuable tool in the farming community.
” ARDI is a research and development granting program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. After user testing is complete, the calculator will be posted online at www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/research/ardi.
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Rigas Karamanos, Ph.D., P.Ag.
Agronomy Manager Viterra Inc.
Phone: 403.279.1120
Rhea Yates
ARDI Communications
Phone: 204.896.6926 Cell: 204.232.0840
