UMN Extension Nutrient Management

09/04/2026

A handy feature of cornNratecalc.org is the ability to compare four corn/nitrogen price ratios at once. Educator Brad Carlson explains. Learn more: z.umn.edu/Nitrogen-Nuggets

08/31/2026

This digital offering allows CAWT professionals to meet their mandatory training requirements from the convenience of their homes! z.umn.edu/CAWT_2026

08/27/2026

Nitrogen is mobile, which means it moves through the plant toward the places with the highest demand. Educator Brad Carlson explains what this can look like as the growing season progresses - and what farmers should keep in mind.

Learn more: z.umn.edu/nitrogen-nuggets

08/25/2026

Don't stop thinking about water just because harvest is approaching.

By: Vasudha Sharma, Extension Irrigation Specialist For many Minnesota farmers, this growing season has been hot and dry with limited rainfa...

08/24/2026

Is there a penalty for overapplying N? Specialist Dan Kaiser explains the consequences of overapplying nitrogen in both corn and oats. Learn more: z.umn.edu/nitrogen-nuggets

08/20/2026

"I was over in southwest Minnesota and I was just really surprised. I looked at a couple of N studies in Lamberton and really only the nitrogen check, the zero N treatments, really looked N deficient. All of the other, even low N rates that are less than 100 pounds of N per acre, looked quite good, and 100 pounds or something around that looked like it was gonna optimize yield in in both of those studies, which is pretty surprising.

But at the same time, that area has had some timely rain. It's certainly not been wet by any means. It's probably been on the dry side. Crop still looks fantastic, but clearly there was a lot of N mineralized from that soil. And I think that's generally the consensus across much of the state.

But there certainly are some areas in west-central and northwest and in the extreme southwest corner of the state that are in that drought category, and those might be areas that might be of interest to take deep soil nitrate samples this fall after that crop comes off. And I don't know that I would necessarily sample the soybean fields, I think that's kind of hit or miss, but if you've got a cornfield that's gonna go to corn again, and it was good and green and lush, and maybe was a little on the droughty side, it might be a field that you could find some deep nitrate in and maybe save some money by reducing your N rate in there for that next corn crop."

- Jeff Vetsch, U of M soil scientist

Photo credit: University of Minnesota Extension August is in full swing, which means it's time for the Fall Fertilizer Outlook on the Nutrie...

08/17/2026

A recent price quote from a southern Minnesota fertilizer dealer has anhydrous ammonia this fall at $865 per ton. This puts the price of N at $0.53 per pound.

Current prices for urea and UAN on the world markets are over $0.70 per pound of N.

By: Brad Carlson, Extension educator Urea is now the most used nitrogen (N) fertilizer source in Minnesota. The switch away from anhydrous...

08/14/2026

Educator Brad Carlson compares the differences in effectiveness between nitrapyrin vs. waiting for low soil temperatures in reducing nitrogen loss from a manure application. Learn more: z.umn.edu/nitrogen-nuggets

08/13/2026

"With the way fertilizer prices are these days, if you can get a homegrown nutrient source, so to speak, that's a lot easier than importing fertilizers." Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist

Photo credit: University of Minnesota Extension The benefits and challenges of manure use in general is the topic on this 40th episode of th...

08/12/2026

"Usually, you look at fields and they're up and down -- one area got too wet, that sort of thing. This year, we got in early and didn't have excessive rainfall, and the crop has been exceedingly uniform across a lot of the state," said David Nicolai, University of Minnesota Extension crops educator. "So, the potential, we feel, is for good yields, based on the fact growers were in the fields early, we didn't have excessive rainfalls, and we didn't have a loss of nitrates so much."

Farmers and analysts who spoke to DTN last week at Minnesota Farmfest said they expect the state's crops to produce yields comparable to last year, which saw record or near-record yields in most counties. DTN's Digital Yield Tour forecasts the corn yield at 200.6 bpa and soybeans at 52.5 bpa.