# Nitrogen Fertilizer For Corn



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Curious to read how you fertilize your corn crops with nitrogen? What source? How applied? Surface broadcast or injected? All applied pre-plant, or split applied with some pre-plant and some side-dressed?

Also, what factors determine your choice of nitrogen source?


Services provided by dealer?
Price per ton of material?
Price per pound on nitrogen?
Ease of application?
Efficiency of nitrogen source?

Do you apply the nitrogen yourself, or have the fertilizer dealer spread/inject the nitrogen fertilizer?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I've been having it fall applied with a chisel plow by fert dealers (2 different ones)last few yrs.They do it cheap enough you cant hardly do it yourself esp with the combination of chisel plowing and applying.$9-10 acre for putting it on.Anhydrous was $700-760 a ton.(The one was always cheaper but after building a new facility they jacked their price)

.043-.046 cost per lb of N

I would like to spring apply urea,I think corn does better but I've ran into delays getting it and that can stop the planter.That can be a disaster here if you only have a few nice days to get it in.

Last fall went to cattle pit manure on about 1/2 my corn ground.Cost was 80% of .043 =.034 per lb of N applied.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

We apply by several methods which we do ourselves.

Apply 300 lbs/acre of 6-15-40, adjust +/- per field/yield goal.

Add enough 28% to the burndown water to end up with a 5% mix which applied at 10 gallon/acre.

Apply 14 gallon/acre of 10-34-0 with deep placement no till fertilizer coulters while planting.

Use fifteen gallon/acre of straight 28% to apply residual herbicide.

Rest is applied using 32% when side dressing.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

3 ton turkey manure at 55-35-32 per ton
2x2 starter fertilizer with 4 gal 10-34-0, 4 gal 28%, and 2 gal thiosulfate.
120 to 140 units applied sidedress as anhydrous ammonia or 28 % depending on soil type! yield goal! and field size.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

mlappin I am taking it the 10-34-0 is your starter: how far does that (down&beside)end up from the seed placement .


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Does anyone broadcast urea or UAN and not incorporate it for corn in no-till, strip-till, or conventional tillage operations?


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

vhaby said:


> Does anyone broadcast urea or UAN and not incorporate it for corn in no-till, strip-till, or conventional tillage operations?


we spin on a dry mix of urea and ammonium sulfate half of it prior to planning and a half of it at five leaf corn it is all no till


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

10 gals of 28% with the planter 2x2, 155 lbs anhydrous at V2, rest is 32% at V5.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

endrow said:


> mlappin I am taking it the 10-34-0 is your starter: how far does that (down&beside)end up from the seed placement .


 Two inches below and two inches to the side.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Corn grain yields can be as great as 40 bu per acre lower where urea is broadcast on limed soil compared to yield produced by broadcasting ammonium nitrate. Average difference across many studies on limed and non-limed soils is about 18 bu per acre in favor of ammonium nitrate. Surface-applied urea loses nitrogen by volatilization of ammonia. Ammonium nitrate loses very little nitrogen by volatilization when surface applied. Fluid nitrogen that is a combination of urea and ammonium nitrate also loses nitrogen by volatilization, mainly from the urea portion, but the losses are not as great as with straight urea. Eighteen bushels per acre at current corn prices is a significant loss, but when corn was bringing $8 per bu, wow!!!!


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

vhaby said:


> Corn grain yields can be as great as 40 bu per acre lower where urea is broadcast on limed soil compared to yield produced by broadcasting ammonium nitrate. Average difference across many studies on limed and non-limed soils is about 18 bu per acre in favor of ammonium nitrate. Surface-applied urea loses nitrogen by volatilization of ammonia. Ammonium nitrate loses very little nitrogen by volatilization when surface applied. Fluid nitrogen that is a combination of urea and ammonium nitrate also loses nitrogen by volatilization, mainly from the urea portion, but the losses are not as great as with straight urea. Eighteen bushels per acre at current corn prices is a significant loss, but when corn was bringing $8 per bu, wow!!!!


here there is quite a bit of Urea used.You work it in as soon as it is spread.I've seen studies here where corn yielded more then anhydrous spring applied.Usually it comes down to price per unit of N and convience.i don't think you can even get ammonia nitrate here.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> here there is quite a bit of Urea used.You work it in as soon as it is spread.I've seen studies here where corn yielded more then anhydrous spring applied.Usually it comes down to price per unit of N and convience.i don't think you can even get ammonia nitrate here.


We used to spread urea then chisel plow. Hard to find an applicator whether it be 28% or anhydrous that can cover 65 feet at 10mph.


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Urea should always be incorporated or watered in with rainfall (or irrigation if available) within 24 to 48 hours. There is at least one good urease inhibitor that can be applied to urea to delay hydrolysis for up to 14 days while waiting for a rain to dissolve it into the soil, but this adds to the cost of urea. By incorporating with a disk or chisel plow, how much is actually covered by soil and how much is left on the soil surface. Any studies found on this?

I understand that, with adequate equipment and person-power, applied urea can be incorporated immediately after application and corn can be planted following incorporation. It's unfortunate that ammonium nitrate has come under increasing restrictions as a nitrogen fertilizer because of accidents and people misusing it.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> here there is quite a bit of Urea used.You work it in as soon as it is spread.I've seen studies here where corn yielded more then anhydrous spring applied.Usually it comes down to price per unit of N and convience.i don't think you can even get ammonia nitrate here.


I can believe that, here soon as its fit, actually before most of the time, people are out knifing in their anhydrous then we get some BIG rains.

I prefer our spoon feeding it in several step approach, don't have all your eggs in one basket then.


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