Wheat School: Nitrogen stays put in cold, wet conditions

It’s been cold and it’s been raining… and raining. Does your wheat crop need more nitrogen?

The answer is no, according to agronomist Peter Johnson. In this edition of RealAgriculture Wheat School, Johnson says despite the weather growers who have already applied 120 to 130 pounds of nitrogen to fields should be in good shape.

In the video, Johnson explains that soil bugs responsible for denitrification also don’t like the cold, which causes reduced activity in the soil. That means very little of the applied nitrogen has been converted to gas and lost to the atmosphere. Johnson suggests the crop may have lost only 3% to 5% of the applied nitrogen and that’s not a good enough reason to drive back through the field to apply more fertilizer.

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