Students: Graduate students: Jonathan Klapwyk (phase 1, MS in '05) and Joe Lawrence (phase 2, MS in '08). Undergraduate students: Michele Wang (phase 1) and Miriam Goler (phase 2).
Faculty and Staff: Quirine Ketterings, Karl Czymmek (PRODAIRY) and Greg Godwin, Nutrient Management Spear Program.
Participating Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators (2001-2007): Carl Albers, Peter Barney, Shawn Bossard, Pete Carey, Mat Cooper, Janice Degni, Dale Dewing, Kevin Ganoe, Nancy Glazier, Nate Herendeen, Mike Hunter, Tom Kilcer, Jeff Miller, Kristen Stockin, Mike Stanyard, Bruce Tillapaugh, Carl Tillinghast.
Participating Research/Teaching
Centers, Campus Faculty, Consultants: Jerry Cherney, Bill Cox and Phil Atkins (Cornell, CSS), Drew Lewis (Farm Services), Harlan Nafizger (Cornell Research and Teaching Center), Mike
Davis (Willsboro Research Farm) and Ev Thomas (Miner Institute).
Participating Producers: Phase 1: Bill Brown, Dan Chambers, Rob Collins, John Currie, Dan Desormeaux, Edgewood Farm, Tim and Mark Heiden, Hendee Homestead Farm, Don Holman, Willi Hughson, Kays Farm, Jack Rejman, Steve Nemec, Bernard Moulton, Mike and Mark Mattson, Thomas Schabloski, Carl Williams, Jim Young. Phase 2: Rob Williams, Russ Beck and Jerry Collier, Dave Fisher, Scott Ryan, Jerry Wood, Mike Kiechle, Steve Gokey, Dan Mulvaney, Mike and Mark Mattson, Gary Sherer, Ed Weber, Marvin LaGrange, Lyn O’Dell, Bill Cook and Jason Burroughs, Mike Northrup, and Merle Yancey.
Funding Sources: New York Farm Viability Institute (Extension/Industry Award), Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (Northern NY sites), and Federal Formula Funds (initial studies and forage quality aspects of the project)
Lawrence, J.R., Q.M. Ketterings, M.G. Goler, J.H. Cherney, W.J. Cox and K.J. Czymmek (....). Corn response to nitrogen as predicted by the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test and organic matter. Soil Science Society of America Journal (accepted pending minor revisions).
Lawrence, J.R., Q.M. Ketterings and J.H. Cherney (2008). Effect of nitrogen application on yield and quality of first year corn. Agronomy Journal 100(1): 73-79.
Klapwyk, J.H., Q.M. Ketterings, G.S. Godwin, M. Wang (2006). Response of the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test to liquid and composted dairy manure application in a corn agroecosystem. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 86(4): 655-663.
Klapwyk, J.H., and Q.M. Ketterings (2006). Soil nitrogen tests for predicting if corn will respond to nitrogen fertilizer in New York. Agronomy Journal 98: 675-681.
Klapwyk, J.H., and Q.M. Ketterings (2005). Reducing laboratory variability of the Illinois soil N test with enclosed griddles. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69(4): 1129-1134.
Further information on this project can be obtained from Quirine Ketterings (qmk2@cornell.edu or 607 255 3061). You can also write to: Nutrient Management Spear Program, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, 803 Bradfield Hall, Ithaca NY 14853.
Introduction
With increasing fertilizer prices and emphasis on environmental protection, producers and their advisors are asking questions about nitrogen (N) needs for corn. How much do we really need? And how would we know? The
pre-sidedress nitrogen test (PSNT) has been the best option available
for corn producers in New York to identify sites where sidedress nitrogen
(N) applications are likely to increase yield. The PSNT measures soil
nitrate, which is taken up by plants and prone to leaching, resulting
in variable test results depending on timing and depth of sampling. The
Illinois Soil N Test (ISNT) is a newly developed soil test from the University
of Illinois that measures a more stable organic fraction of soil N that
could possibly be used to determine if corn will be responsive to sidedressing.
In Illinois, this ISNT was shown accurate in predicting if a site will be responsive to N fertilization. The ISNT is correlated to amino-sugar N, a fraction
of soil N that is easily mineralizable and may become available for the
crop during the growing season, but is less variable over time than nitrate. Additional tests proposed for use for corn management include a chlorophyll test at PSNT time, and two tests taken at the end of the growing season (evaluations of what happened rather than predictors of N needs) including the end-of-season soil nitrate test and the end-of-season stalk nitrate test.
The big question is: can any of these tools help us with deciding where to invest our fertilizer N dollars in New York?
Objectives
Determine N needs for corn in a rotation (from 1st through 3rd year corn following grass/alfalfa).
To assess the effect of time and depth of sampling (0-8 inches vs. 0-12
inches) on both nitrate and ISNT-N on New York soils.
To test the effectiveness of the ISNT versus the currently
recommended PSNT for predicting if corn will be responsive to sidedress N
in New York.
To understand effects of manure applications and sod on PSNT and ISNT-N levels.
Laboratory Test Method for ISNT
The method for measuring ISNT-N is very straight-forward. Soil samples
are taken (A) then dried and ground to pass through a 2-mm sieve. The test uses
hotplate griddles to heat one gram of soil in alkaline solution (10 mL of 2M
NaOH) for 5 hours in modified canning jars (B). Ammonia gas is released from
the solution and becomes trapped in 5 mL of 4% boric acid indicator solution
which is held in a petri dish suspended from the lid of the jar (B). After the
5 hours, the petri dish is removed and the boric acid is titrated with 0.01M
sulfuric acid to determine the amount of ISNT-N in the sample.
Phase 1 (2002-2004): Method development and calibration of the ISNT for corn in New York
We were successful in securing a hatch grant for the initial 3 years of this project. The work was conducted in three steps:
Step 1: Laboratory studies were conducted to determine test variability under different temperature settings and closed versus open-bench setup of the griddles used for the test.
Step 2: Corn trials were conducted throughout New York in 2002-2004.
Both research (4 replicates) and on-farm trials (2 replicates) were set up with
3 treatments:
No starter or sidedress N.
Starter N only.
Starter N + sidedress N.
Soil samples were taken at 0-8 and 0-12 inches at five times over the growing
season: 1) 2 weeks pre-plant, 2) at planting, 3) at 2-3 leaf corn, 4) at PSNT
time (6 to 15" corn), and 5) at harvest. Harvest yield and quality were used
to determine site responsiveness.
Step 3: In addition, a field trial was conducted at the Aurora Research Farm to determine the impact of manure and compost application on ISNT performance.
Results were document in numerous popular press articles and three peer-reviewed papers:
Klapwyk, J.H., Q.M. Ketterings, G.S. Godwin, M. Wang (2006). Response of the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test to liquid and composted dairy manure application in a corn agroecosystem. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 86(4): 655-663.
Klapwyk, J.H., and Q.M. Ketterings (2006). Soil nitrogen tests for predicting if corn will respond to nitrogen fertilizer in New York. Agronomy Journal 98: 675-681.
Klapwyk, J.H., and Q.M. Ketterings (2005). Reducing laboratory variability of the Illinois soil N test with enclosed griddles. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69(4): 1129-1134.
Phase 2 (2005-2007): Nitrogen needs for corn in rotation; testing of tools for N management
In 2005, we obtained funding from the New York Farm Viability Institute as well as the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program to continue this work. With this funding, we succesfully completed 28 trials with 4 treatments and 4 replicates each in 2005-2007. We tested the performance of the PSNT, ISNT, chlorophyll test, stalk nitrate test, and end of season soil nitrate test in separating response from non-responsive sites:
Nitrogen (N) prices and environmental concerns have caused many corn (Zea mays L.) producers and advisors to rethink their current N management practices. These past 3 years, laboratory and field trials were conducted in NY to evaluate the performance of the Illinois Soil N Test (ISNT) in identifying whether or not additional N was needed. Initial test results showed the need for temperature control in the laboratory and resulted in a modification of the procedure to include enclosed boxes. Evaluation of the ability of the modified ISNT procedure in detecting increases in organic N upon compost and manure addition showed an increase in ISNT over time consistent with N credits from manure currently employed for N management in New York. However, to obtain an estimate of potential N release from readily available organic N sources, sampling should not take place within 4-5 weeks after manure (or fertilizers that contain ammonium) application or sod or cover crop plowdown or chemical kill. Results of the first 3 years of field trials showed that soil samples taken to 20-cm (8 inch) depth and analyzed for both ISNT and LOI-OM can be used to predict the need for additional N for corn beyond starter fertilizer in New York. Of 16 first year corn sites, in 2005-2006 none was responsive to sidedress N suggesting no need for N management tools (PSNT or ISNTxLOI) either. Critical ISNTxOM levels derived from 2001-2004 data successfully identified 15 of 18 second+ year corn sites and corn after soybean sites (83% accuracy) for trials conducted in 2005-2007. The biggest advantage in implementation of the ISNTxLOI for N management for corn lies in its potential for use by corn growers who apply pre-plant N (manure or fertilizer) to 2nd year or more corn as ISNT samples can be taken early in the season.
Results for this phase of the project have been document in numerous popular press articles and one peer-reviewed paper with a second one in review:
Lawrence, J.R., Q.M. Ketterings and J.H. Cherney (2008). Effect of nitrogen application on yield and quality of first year corn. Agronomy Journal 100(1): 73-79.
Lawrence, J.R., Q.M. Ketterings, M.G. Goler, J.H. Cherney, W.J. Cox and K.J. Czymmek (....). Corn response to nitrogen as predicted by the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test and organic matter. Soil Science Society of America Journal (accepted pending minor revisions).
Printable version of this page
With increasing fertilizer prices and emphasis on environmental protection, producers and their advisors are asking questions about nitrogen (N) needs for corn. How much do we really need? And how would we know? The
pre-sidedress nitrogen test (PSNT) has been the best option available
for corn producers in New York to identify sites where sidedress nitrogen
(N) applications are likely to increase yield. The PSNT measures soil
nitrate, which is taken up by plants and prone to leaching, resulting
in variable test results depending on timing and depth of sampling. The
Illinois Soil N Test (ISNT) is a newly developed soil test from the University
of Illinois that measures a more stable organic fraction of soil N that
could possibly be used to determine if corn will be responsive to sidedressing.
In Illinois, this ISNT was shown accurate in predicting if a site will be responsive to N fertilization. The ISNT is correlated to amino-sugar N, a fraction
of soil N that is easily mineralizable and may become available for the
crop during the growing season, but is less variable over time than nitrate. Additional tests proposed for use for corn management include a chlorophyll test at PSNT time, and two tests taken at the end of the growing season (evaluations of what happened rather than predictors of N needs) including the end-of-season soil nitrate test and the end-of-season stalk nitrate test. 
