Managing nitrogen during the crop rotation to increase income and protect the environment

Carter, David L. (1990) Managing nitrogen during the crop rotation to increase income and protect the environment. The Sugarbeet. pp. 16-17.

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Abstract

National concern about nitrate contamination of
groundwater is raisin g many questions about the
use of nitrogen fertilizer to grow high-quality crops.
Some extremists are suggesting that commercial
inorganic nitrogen fertilization should not be permitted.
Such a limitation would seriously reduce crop
productivity and farming profitability. We hope that it does
not occur. However, the farming industry has become
somewhat careless in nitrogen management because
nitrogen fertilizer has been relatively cheap for the past
couple of decades. Commonly, "a little extra nitrogen" has
been applied to assure against a deficiency and less than
maximum yield. in recent years. sugar beet growers have
learned that such a practice can be costly because high
soil nitrate the latter part of the season can cause low sugar percentage and high Brei nitrate leading to low sugar
recovery from the sugar beets. We can and should do a
better job of managing both applied and symbiotically
fixed nitro gen in the soil to diminish the potential for
groundwater contamination and to provide the right
amount of nitrate in the soil at the right time for the crop
being grown.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0698
Subjects:	Practical farm efficiency Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:58
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2016 15:46
Item ID:	1228
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1228