John Nowatzki, NDSU agricultural machine systems specialist, is conducting a study with Northern Plains crop producers to investigate the effects of variable-rate fertilization on crop yields.

Variable-rate fertilizer application allows crop producers to apply different rates of fertilizer at various locations across fields. Each field will be analyzed separately, but then combined into a single database to evaluate the effectiveness of variable-rate fertilization.

“Increasingly, farmers are purchasing equipment capable of applying variable rates of fertilizer, but many farmers are reluctant to incorporate this practice,” Nowatzki says. “It could be because there is little whole-field research available to evaluate its effectiveness. The most obvious reason to use variable-rate fertilization is to decrease input costs per unit of harvested crop.” 

For more information, contact John Nowatzki at john.nowatzki@ndus.edu or 1-8213.