Does Corn really need 1.1lbs. of N per bushel produced?
The amount of soil nitrogen required to produce 1 bushel of corn is 1.1 to 1.2 pounds per bushel. This is now being questioned. The algorithm may have been based on non-uniform application of nitrogen and non-uniform residual nitrogen. Exactrix owners are reporting much lower N usage to produce top yields. The 3rd year of Exactrix NH3 application really tells the story in the corn soybean rotation. Residual N is now more uniform in the 3rd year. Soybeans become suppliers of soil nitrate rather harvesters of soil nitrate. Jason Foltz of Shelbyville, IN proved this in 2001. Four rates of NH3 were applied on soybean ground, 100, 150, 200 and 250 pounds of N/A. The Exactrix 2KD Weigh Master applies NH3 within 1% port-to-port accuracy. To review the 2KD go to www.exactrix.com/2KD.htm. All plots yielded 187 bushels per acre. The soybean credit was 50 lbs. N/A. Therefore 150 lbs. of total soil N raised 187 bushel per acre of corn. This is .8 pounds of N per bushel. Since there was no testing
