So the AgroExpo coming up on August 14 and 15 will be more than just a walk around to see cool stuff. You can also see cool stuff and learn something. In fact, the best place for that will be at the Learning Center where several different companies are collaborating to provide educational demonstrations to show the latest in the scientific world of farming. Like here for instance. One of the issues of nitrogen applications is keeping it in the soil for the crop to use. But nitrogen can convert to ammonia and be lost to volatility. Dr. Zouheir has previously shown how High NRG-N and addition of eNhance to 28% can reduce ammonia loss. Plots were established last Friday to show this in the Learning Center. Here I am applying different nitrogen products to the 4 row corn plots. I'm using a pressurized backpack sprayer to apply the different products through the spray boom onto the ground. By the way, this sprayer was my first research purchase back in 1992. And both of us are still going stronger than ever. Well it seems that way to me anyway. That thing is heavy!
After spraying, Dr. Zouheir installs his passive ammonia capture devices, three per plot. He will use a weak sulfuric acid solution to capture the ammonia as it escapes. The solution is analyzed for ammonia content as a representation of volatility loss. Intern Cami helps him load the samples into the PVC tubes.
Here is a view of the sampler. The sulfuric acid is in the suspended jar. A lid will seal it off.
And here is a view of their work. There are nine plots and three samplers per plot. Zouheir will collect the solution for analysis over the upcoming weeks to see how the different products compare in their ability to hold nitrogen in the soil.
