Crop Nutrition

Tag archive: nitrogen

How to fine-tune mid-season nitrogen

published - 12 July 2018
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Applying nitrogen (N) at multiple times during the season can better match crop demand, minimise risk, and increase returns. Mid-season is a good time to reassess crop N needs. There are a variety of tools to help growers estimate crop N needs. Most use a budget where the N rate […]

How much nitrogen can pulses supply to the next crop?

published - 4 July 2018
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Howard Cox, DAF QLD Growing pulses can increase soil nitrogen (N) stocks. Researchers in QLD have developed some rules of thumb to estimate pulse-N contribution to the next cereal crop. The rules apply to chickpeas and faba beans. Calculating N from pulses Good crops In a good chickpea or faba […]

Nitrogen topical at 2018 GRDC Updates

published - 5 June 2018
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Keep up with the latest research information on nitrogen. The following papers and key messages were presented at the GRDC Updates across Australia in February and March 2018. Improving N efficiency using mid-row banding – Graeme Sandral Mid-row banding urea at sowing provided a higher yield and profit response in […]

Research into mid-row banding benefits continues

published - 29 May 2018
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In 2016, Agriculture Victoria researcher Ashley Wallace conducted mid-row banding (MRB) trials in Victoria. These were part of the GRDC/Agriculture Victoria Regional Research Agronomist program.The trials compared MRB nitrogen fertiliser in-crop to other application methods. MRB is when fertiliser is applied in concentrated bands below the surface to every second […]

What happens in the year after a hayed-off crop?

published - 21 March 2018
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A hayed-off crop can make estimating available nitrogen (N) trickier than usual. Deep N testing is the best way to assess N resources.Estimates and actual results from deep soil testing were very different in recent research by Birchip Cropping Group. After haying off there’s potential yield benefit next season from leftover […]

What is the fate of nitrogen fertiliser?

published - 8 March 2018
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Do you know the fate of nitrogen (N) fertiliser that’s applied to cropping paddocks?  How much ends up in the crop, soil or lost? Victorian researchers have been working with a traceable N fertiliser to find out. The standard assumption is the crop takes up half the fertiliser N in […]

Is nitrogen placement different north vs south?

published - 31 January 2018
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Trials looking at placing nitrogen fertiliser into the soil have shown some different outcomes. In the southern region adding mid-row banding (MRB) to the crop nutrition toolkit looks interesting. A trial showed modest yield gains and better fertiliser uptake. In the northern region, rate looks more important than how nitrogen […]

The best resource on fertiliser N and legumes in the northern region

published - 19 December 2017
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Balancing legume N with fertiliser inputs can be tricky. Legumes can affect soil N dynamics in unexpected ways. For example, chickpeas grown in low N soil can fix a large amount of N. But in high N soils, chickpeas use the soil N and fix less from the atmosphere. They […]

How good are in-crop mineralisation predictions?

published - 24 October 2017
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Crops may source much of their nitrogen (N) from in-crop mineralisation (ICM) of soil organic matter. Of total crop N at harvest, an estimated average 63% came from ICM in a recent Victorian study. Total crop N includes grain, straw and roots. Root N is about 10% of grain and […]

Mid-row banding promising for in-crop Nitrogen

published - 5 October 2017
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Mid-row Banding (MRB) places nitrogen (N) fertiliser below the soil surface in every second crop inter-row. Recent research looked at using MRB for in-crop N applications. In-season N applications aim to meet a crop’s peak N demand and improve the efficiency of crop uptake. MRB can reduce some risks that […]