Growers today strive to be as efficient as possible — both for the benefit of their bottom lines, and to be good stewards of the land. It is important to keep in mind the large impact that fertilizer input can have on both.
Koch Agronomic Services (KAS) senior agronomist, Dr. Rigas Karamanos, describes healthy soil as one that is, “functioning at its optimal levels within its natural settings.”
According to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, soil health management practices, such as no-till, build the land’s production potential over the long term.
AGROTAIN®, from KAS, was developed with soil health in mind to control nitrogen loss from volatilization, giving even no-till farmers the confidence to surface broadcast urea or UAN.
“By using no-till cropping systems, growers preserve soil moisture and minimize soil loss due to erosion. However, no-till presents a challenge when it comes to nitrogen loss. Urea based fertilizers that are not incorporated can be subject to ammonia volatilization losses up to 40 percent,” said Greg Schwab, director of agronomy for Koch Agronomic Services. “AGROTAIN nitrogen stabilizer slows urea hydrolysis giving the soil more time to absorb the ammonia, thus minimizing volatilization loss. With no-till crop production systems, it is critical farmers select the right nitrogen fertilizer to maximize production and minimize potential environmental impact.”
In field studies conducted by the University of Nebraska and University of Illinois under no-till conditions and nitrogen limiting environments, AGROTAIN treated UAN improved average corn yield by 17 bu/acre and AGROTAIN treated urea improved yield by 38 bu/acre over unprotected urea.2
Protect your nutrient investment, protect your soil — the foundation of every operation. When it comes time to apply your nitrogen, choose the stabilizer that growers trust.
1International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), 2018.
2The underlying data was provided by the University of Nebraska and University of Illinois under a Research Trial Financial Support Agreement with Koch Agronomic Services, LLC and neither the University of Nebraska and University of Illinois, nor the referenced individual researchers, endorse or recommend any product or service.