Deep Soil Sampling of Nitrates and Performance of Instinct® II Nitrogen Stabilizer in US Winter Wheat.

Annual wheat production in the United States is approximately 53 million acres, with winter wheat comprising approximately 77% of these acres.  All of these wheat acres are potentially exposed to fall, winter and early spring rainfall which can leach nitrogen out of the root zone as well and result in denitrification losses as nitrous oxides. This non-utilized nitrogen can lead to reduced yield potential and environmental losses of nitrogen.  In the fall of 2013, Dow AgroSciences established two trials to evaluate downward movement of nitrates in the western wheat market under dryland and irrigated production.  Instinct^® II, an encapsulated nitrapyrin formulation, was evaluated in combination with various nitrogen application rates, production practices and fertilizer sources.  The results from these trials demonstrated that Instinct II increased both the amount and duration of NH₄⁺ retention in the 0-120 cm soil profile as compared to the non-stabilized fertilizer treatments.  Instinct II also had a positive impact on wheat yield without demonstrating negative effects on protein content.