Nitrogen Aids Proliferate As Innovation Targets Efficiency, Loss Reduction
April 1, 2026 Ask most growers what concerns them most going into the 2026 season, and chances are good that they will say fertilizer prices. While all crop nutrition prices have climbed in recent months, nitrogen-based fertilizers have been particularly hard hit, with some sources claiming the price per ton for these spiked $100 to $200 since the Iranian conflict began.
However, even before this recent price event took place, certain agricultural suppliers have provided products to improve nitrogen fertilizer efficiency. Indeed, 2026 marks the 50th anniversary for one of the first such products to enter the marketplace: N-Serve from Corteva Agriscience, says Chirs Kluemke, Market Development Specialist.
“In agriculture, nitrogen is always looked at as the golden goose,” says Casey McDaniel, Vice President at Loveland Products, which markets N-Finity. “If we can provide solutions making nitrogen use more efficient and helping to protect it in the field, that’s really our goal as a supplier.”
Trey Cutts, Vice President of Commercial Agriculture Science at Tidal Grow AgriScience, agrees.
“Nitrogen management has gotten a bit better, at least the knowledge around it,” says Cutts. “But it’s still a challenge because of the loss mechanisms and the lack of tools to make it more agronomic centric.”
Aids in the Systems
Luckily, there are several nitrogen fertilizer aids already in the market, with more on the way. For instance, Cutts cites Tidal Grow’s alignN as one such product. Introduced by the company this past September, alignN is a micro-encapsulated product for foliar application.
“alignN is designed to deliver corn nitrogen to growing plants,” he says. “It almost performs like a sidedress application.”
There are also new active ingredients being used in the nitrogen aid marketplace. According to Cody Hornaday, Technical Agronomists at Koch Agronomic Services, a pair of these are present in the company’s Anvol and Centuro brands — duromide and pronitridine, respectively.
“The development of advanced stabilizers — with novel active ingredients such as duromide and pronitridine — offer farmers better protection against different forms of nitrogen loss,” says Hornaday. “As new and improved technology becomes more widely available, we’ll continue to see increased adoption of nitrogen stabilizers.”
According to Jae Fielding, Chemical Engineer at Kugler Co., nitrogen in the correct form is readily absorbed by plant leaves without damage. Slow-release foliar products, such as the company’s KQ-XRN, create the possibility of further extending nitrogen delivery.
Another new nitrogen aid is Nutrio N-Tune from Wilbur-Ellis. Officially introduced in spring 2025, Nutrio N-Tune is derived from naturally occurring, beneficial bacteria capable of converting atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia.
“The product contains a spore- forming bacterium that is very, very hardy,” says Andy Neeb, Field Manager, Branded Technologies at Wilbur-Ellis Agribusiness. “This means this nitrogen-fixing biological can be tank mixed with pesticides or fertilizers, sprayed on bare ground, or applied in-furrow.”
There are also blended products for increasing nitrogen fertilizer efficiency. For example, according to Dr. Zack Ogles, Manager of Agronomy at Tessenderlo Kerley, the company’s line of liquid thiosulfates can serve in this role.
“[These] are unique in the fact that they are both nitrification inhibitors and volatilization reducers as well as high analysis fertilizers,” says Ogles. “Our ammonium thiosulfate (Thio-Sul) is frequently blended with UAN 32% to create a nitrogen and sulfur blend that is used extensively throughout the U.S.”
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