I had a call from a KS farmer recently and we were discussing the "high N needs".

It seems to me that N is very frequently over applied in KS and other irrigated areas. I think we need to think more in terms of pounds of applied N per bushel of expected corn grain yield, rather than just units of N applied.

There is a lot of evidence for a number of different geographic areas that you can raise some VERY good corn (200 bu ++) with in the range of 0.6-0.7 lb of applied N per bushel if you apply it approximately where and when the plant needs it. This is replacement without mining the soil.

In those irrigated some folks are applying 2 to 3 times that much. The potential for cost savings appears to be enormous. What do you see as far as applied N rates in KS?

Jim at Dawn