On Farm Demonstration with ESN - Environmentally Smart Nitrogen.

Nitrogen is one of the most crucial nutrients for corn production.  The two major sources of nitrogen used in Arkansas are 32% UAN and urea.  Getting the correct amount of nitrogen applied timely is difficult some years if wet weather delays sidedress applications.  Urea is widely used in Arkansas due to its ease of application and is usually the most economical source.  Drawbacks of urea include weather conditions at the time of application that may delay application and rainfall or irrigation is needed to incorporate into the soil.  If soil conditions are wet at application, a significant amount of nitrogen may be lost if not incorporated timely.  A possible solution to reduce risks of using urea would be to use Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (ESN), a slow release nitrogen source.   A large-plot field demonstration was established in a Northeast Arkansas corn field in Clay County in 2016 to evaluate yield differences between ESN, urea, and 32% UAN.    Treatments included;  1) 200 units of nitrogen as ESN applied preplant incorporated,  2) 200 units of 32% UAN applied at sidedress and,  3) 40 units of nitrogen preplant incorporated plus 33 units on nitrogen at the V4 growth stage followed by 126 units of nitrogen as 32%UAN a week later.  Treatments were replicated three times.  Each plot will be harvested and measured with a weigh wagon to evaluate differences in yield.