Projected Outcomes of a Public-Industry Partnership for Enhancing Corn Nitrogen Research and Datasets.

Research is needed over a wide geographic range of soil and weather scenarios to evaluate methods and tools for corn N fertilizer applications. The objectives of this research were to conduct standardized corn N rate response field studies to evaluate the performance of multiple public-domain N decision tools across diverse soils and environmental conditions, develop and publish new agronomic science for improved crop N management, and train new scientists. The project was initiated in a partnership among eight US Midwest land-grant universities, USDA-ARS, and DuPont Pioneer. Preliminary observations of soil and crop variables measured in the project from each site revealed differences in soil properties (e.g., texture and organic matter) as well as differences in agronomic and economic responses to applied N. The project has generated a valuable dataset across a wide array of weather and soils that allows investigators to perform robust evaluation of N use in corn and N fertilizer decision tools.