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!
Tracy & Tom Novak
Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipients Tracy & Tom Novak are evaluating Pivot Bio PROVEN40® over 4 nitrogen rates.
When asked about the inspiration to design an on-farm trial around this product, Novak had this to say, “Over my career, many products like Pivot Bio come and go. The end result, every time is the company extracts money from farmers’ pockets for the product and after a few years there’s no measurable yield or monetary gain for the farmer. We never hear from the rep or company again. I used to test many of the products on my own dime and about a decade ago, I said, “No way, I’m done.” It literally cost me several thousand dollars in yield loss on the last product – and I have the data to show it! Pivot Bio has made a similar splash without any yield information that I could find and only testimonials talking about the product.
So, with NOPP funding available I’m back at it using paired 12-row plots with and without Pivot Bio applied in-furrow with 4 different N rates. If there’s promise after 2 years I would like to continue the project.”
Michael Fields Agriculture Institute
Jeff Gaska, Charlie Hammer, and Marty Weiss, in collaboration with the Division of Extension Educator Will Fulwider, are 2023 Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipients! Their project is designed to estimate nitrogen credits from multi-species cover crops planted after wheat.
Will had this to say about the topic: “While the university has worked to dial in nitrogen crediting for frost-seeded red clover and late-summer planted legumes, farmers planting cover crops after wheat are often doing so with diverse mixes. The rationale is multifold: 1. Diverse mixes are better for soil health because of different root systems and microbe/fungus-plant associations, 2. Nitrate-scavenging grasses in mixed with legumes help to prevent nitrogen loss, 3. Flowering species support for pollinators, and the list goes on…. However, the jury is still out if these diverse cover crops planted after wheat can provide reliable nitrogen credits to corn the following season. To do so, 6 different farmers across Dane and Dodge counties (3 funded by NOPP, 3 funded by SARE) planted their own cover crop mixes after wheat this past summer, leaving no-cover crop control strips. This spring, corn will be planted across all the fields and a nitrogen rate trial overlaid on the cover/no cover strips in order to determine how much additional nitrogen and corn yield response we are seeing at different rates of nitrogen fertilizer.”
Bibby
Paul Bibby, in collaboration with Extension Educators Sam Bibby and Steve Okonek, is a 2024 Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipient! His project is designed to investigate sunflower response to nitrogen as it relates to yield, profit, and agronomic traits.
Paul and Sam said this about the project: “We are interested in growing sunflowers in the driftless region of Wisconsin because we desire more diversity across our farm. In addition to breaking up our corn/soy rotation, they look great and provide a huge food source for local pollinators. Most sunflower bird seed in our area is grown far away and shipped here. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to us when it is possible to grow sunflowers right here in Wisconsin. Our plan is to sell sunflower seed as a bird food product locally either off the farm or through local stores.
Due to the lack of sunflower production in the state and surrounding area, the fertility guidelines are not well defined. Through the NOPP trial, we hope to collect some on-farm results that will help us and other potential Wisconsin sunflower farmers dial in our nitrogen rate.”
