Saturday, June 30, 2018

All About Nitrogen Fertlizer: We will learn!

So I have showed pictures of Dr. Zouheir and his various nutrient capture studies.  Of particular interest is the nitrogen experiments where he captured ammonia as it volatilized off the soil surface from different N treatments.  Well all of those were practice leading up to this big one.  After surface applications of different sources and "stabilizers", he will measure volatility, plus leaching, soil persistence and crop uptake.  We did this on Friday, and there are Zouheir and MSU MSU intern Jenna getting the passive capture devices all set.  
It was hot Friday, but nothing like this weekend's oppressive conditions.  But Zouheir will be out there to collect samples for a 24 hour measurement.

Also, I know you are questioning our planting corn at the end of June  Well we had hoped to start earlier but work and weather caused delays.  And he is the only one qualified for this type of work.  We will mainly focus on corn uptake of nitrogen as it grows.  We certainly won't be able to harvest this.  But these same treatments have been applied for yield over the years at the NCRS anyway.  I don't usually like to expound on tests before the outcome is determined.  But I'm confident!  And this is high tech such that there is no other work like this anywhere.