Improving N use efficiency by integrating soil and crop properties for variable rate N management
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Farmers often use uniform N rates, which results in sub-optimal rates of N in large areas of the field and low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Variable rate N management (VRN) has the potential to improve NUE by better adjusting N rates to crop needs. The objectives of this project were to measure the improvement in NUE, the reduction in N loadings and the results on productivity across four different strategies: traditional uniform approach, VRN by management zone (MZ), VRN by proximal sensing (RS) and VRN based on remote sensing within management zones (RSMZ). Results indicated that combining both soil and crop information for VRN resulted in the highest NUE while maintaining productivity and decreasing N loadings in the environment for two years out of three.