SOIL AND PLANT TESTS TO PREDICT OPTIMUM NITROGEN RATES FOR CORN*

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Abstract
Optimum fertilizer nitrogen (N) rates are highly variable from one production corn (Zea mays L.) field to another, but producers usually use about the same N rate over their whole farm. Matching N application rates to actual crop need could have both economic and environmental benefits. The objectives of this research were to evaluate soil and plant tests for their ability to predict optimum N rates across a range of production cornfields in Missouri, and to evaluate the economic performance of recommendation systems based on these measurements. Yield response to N was measured in each experiment, along with soil mineral N measurements (planting and sidedress), tissue N at sidedress time, and chlorophyll meter reading at sidedress time. Optimum N fertilizer rates were fairly evenly spread from 0 to 235 kg N ha−1 in these sixteen experiments. Soil N measurements, tissue N at sidedress, and chlorophyll meter reading at sidedress were all clearly related to optimum N rate—the higher the test result, the lowe...