The Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP) is a grant program funded by the State of Wisconsin, administered by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), and supported by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Soil Science and Division of Extension. These grants aim to refine and enhance the understanding of methods that optimize commercial nitrogen applied to agricultural fields, helping to protect vital soil and water resources. Read below to hear what Wisconsin farmers are investigating with their NOPP funding!
McCain Foods
With their Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant, Coloma Farms & Plover River Farms, in collaboration with McCain Foods, seek to enhance nitrogen management in potatoes.
“Potatoes have a high demand for nitrogen and water, and many are grown in quite sandy soils, which can lead to nitrogen loss via nitrate leaching” says Kelly Verhaalen of McCain Foods. That risk of leaching is the “Why” behind this project. Verhaalen continues, “Potato growers have practiced split nitrogen applications for a long time, but there is still uncertainty to understanding how much nitrogen is lost to leaching from either at planting, hilling, or fertigation applications. Also, nitrogen demand within a season in relation to yield can be quite variable between potato varieties and still needs research. We hope to understand how a specific processing russet variety’s yield & quality responds to nitrogen rates and fertigation timings while also measuring the nitrogen balance within the season & how the crop rotation may have influence. Ideally, we’d then be able to focus on more potato varieties and their nitrogen relationship.”
Pictured: A suction cup lysimeter installed within the bounds of the trial to measure water and nutrient movement in the soil.
Bragger
Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipient Joe Bragger, along with fellow producer Jimmy Ellis, are conducting on-farm research investigating the optimization of urea applications when applying poultry litter to corn.
The poultry industry has undergone major changes over the last 20 years and very little research has been conducted on nitrogen availability in poultry litter in that timeframe. At a recent field day hosted at the trial, Jimmy Ellis says they want to “put it to rest once and for all: Is it the manure handling, the housekeeping, what they’re feeding the chickens? What has changed?”. As commercial poultry production is extremely important in West Central Wisconsin and poultry litter is routinely applied to sensitive soils in this area of the Driftless Region, this 2-year project should provide valuable information on the topic.
Pictured Inset L to R: Cora Hoffer, Doug Yapp, Carl Duley, Jimmy Ellis, Joe Bragger, Dr. Francisco Arriaga
Towne
Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grantee, Trenton Towne, designed an on-farm project to investigate the benefits of winter grazing to corn yields while optimizing commercial nitrogen applications. After this year’s corn is harvested, Towne will allow cattle to graze the trial location all winter and then establish the nitrogen-rate trial in the spring.
When asked what motivated him to design this unique project, Towne had no shortage of reasons: “Commercial nitrogen production uses significant amounts of fossil fuels. The cost of commercial fertilizer to a small farm’s budget and to my children’s future has motivated us to investigate how historical practices might help our farm reduce the need to use excessive amounts of commercial fertilizer. We also feel that properly managed grazing practices can help rejuvenate the sandy soils of Waushara County.
Our NOPP study looks to reintegrate cattle to the landscape, so that the cows can deposit nutrients where we need them most. We intend to use the practice of bale grazing during the long Wisconsin winters upon a field where corn has been harvested to prepare the soil with all the nutrients necessary for the coming growing season. We will then monitor how a variety of different nitrogen application rates across the field affect corn yields during the next year.
We hope that through this research, we can help small farms in central Wisconsin determine the financial benefits of such a rotational grazing system and hopefully reduce the need to purchase commercial nitrogen and expensive equipment. We believe that the long-term benefits of winter bale grazing in Wisconsin will improve our soil, our environment, our finances and our children’s future.”
Pictured inset: Trenton Towne and son Atticus
