The Nutrient Management and Edge of Field Monitoring's three-day conference, led by the Soil and Water Conservation Society with help from the Soil Health Partnership, wrapped up Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee.
Agronomist, soil scientist and Soil Health Partnership Director Nick Goeser spoke at the conference about the importance of standardized, on-farm nitrogen trials to help farmers develop a more precise nutrient management program.
“Farmers need to know and understand what they can do to improve nutrient use efficiency in their systems and the associated costs to change,” Goeser said. “We want them to consider on-farm testing of fertilizer rate, timing, source and location to make sure nutrients end up in the crop rather than the water supply.”
Goeser noted there is still a need for better on-farm research even though university and industry plot-scale research on nitrogen management has been useful.
“We need to better understand the driving factors for change – and their associated costs – in order to bring practical and meaningful results to farmers,” he said.
The Soil Health Partnership, a National Corn Growers Association initiative, can help with the methodology for data quality and results.
“The Soil Health Partnership is uniquely positioned to gather this valuable data in real farm situations across multiple states over a five-year period,” Goeser said. “Our farmer partners are committed to the future and sustainability of farming.”
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