Nitrogen Modeling and Managing with Adapt-N
Just how much nitrogen is needed for a sufficient potential crop yield? Putting in too much creates a lot of issues. Putting in less creates a sense of loss. So what exactly is the right amount? Adapt-N, a tool developed at Cornell University, can be the answer to better nitrogen management.
The Challenging Task of Nitrogen Management
Managing nitrogen is a challenging affair because how much is needed is dictated by the weather, which is beyond the control of farmers. The presence of nitrogen in the soil is determined by organic matter.
How much nitrogen is released and held by organic matter is also driven by the weather. The weather dictates the amount of nitrogen lost through leaching and denitrification. It is also responsible for how well nitrogen is used.
Several factors also affect the efficiency of nitrogen, including method, placement, rate, source, and timing.
Since farmers want to minimize the risk of potential crop yield loss, they have turned to using tools like Adapt-N to keep track of nitrogen applications during the growing season.
What is Adapt-N?
Adapt-N, put simply, is software. It is a nitrogen management solution that can help growers determine just how much nitrogen they need to apply to their crops. Doing so can ensure a potential crop yield that is financially beneficial.
Developed by Cornell University, Adapt-N is a cloud-based platform that uses science to calculate the nitrogen needs of corn. The software takes a lot of factors into consideration before handing out a solution.
Users feed the application with the information it needs to perform lots of simulations in order to make an accurate recommendation. Adapt-N takes factors such as management practices, information about soil, and real-time and historical weather data into account.
After crunching the data, Adapt-N provides a flat or variable-rate recommendation that is based on the preference of the user.
Included with Adapt-N is N-Insight which makes assessments on the financial and environmental impact of nitrogen. It helps growers understand how soil conditions impact nitrogen loss. It is also useful in getting growers to understand how changes in management practices can produce better yields and environmental performance.
How Can Adapt-N Help?
Fields can be divided into zones, each with different amounts of nitrogen applied. Doing so allows growers to keep track of the return on investment. What this also means is that some fields will provide a greater return on investment over the others.
In other words, Adapt-N neither recommends more or less nitrogen. The results it provides differs every season given the factors it has to take into consideration, with weather conditions – both historical and real-time – being one of them.
What it does to is provide farmers with applying the necessary amount of nitrogen at the right time. As a result, it can help improve returns and minimize nitrogen's impact on the environment.
Just like any application, Adapt-N requires accurate data to provide equally accurate results.
Also, a four-year study conducted by Cornell University researchers on the application's economic and environmental benefits has found win-win opportunities for producers and the environment.
Adapt-N is available in more than 30 states in the US.
Precision Agronomics is located at 9438 West SR 28 in West Lebanon, IN and is proud to serve: Marshfield, Johnsonville, Foster, Stone Bluff, Bismarck, and the surrounding areas. Contact us today for more information!
