Corteva: Three Steps To Identify A Proven Nitrogen Stabilizer

Nitrogen stabilizers are one option to protect nitrogen; however, the market is saturated with available products. With fall purchasing decisions around the corner, Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, has identified key criteria to help farmers select a proven nitrogen stabilizer that is right for them.

Weeding through the myriad of stabilizer products can be tricky, and economic pressures make finding the best option even more important.

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“The nitrogen stabilizer category has been fairly disjointed with regard to product claims,” says Kenny Johnson, CCA U.S. product manager, nitrogen stabilizers at Corteva Agriscience. “When farmers use a product that doesn’t meet the correct criteria for a nitrification or urease inhibitor, they waste their money and aren’t helping protect the environment. This makes it essential that they become informed about what makes a proven nitrogen stabilizer.”

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Corteva Agriscience recommends that farmers use three criteria in determining the right nitrogen stabilizer to use:

1. Leverage university-supported research

Use stabilizers that have been rigorously tested by universities. Farmers should ask their retailers to share academic research that supports the claims that are being touted.

2. Check labeling to ensure it meets EPA registration guidelines

Use stabilizers that also follow EPA registration guidelines. These guidelines require robust documentation and research to support claims that relate to the effectiveness of a nitrogen stabilizer product.

3. Prioritize value

The current economics of farming may not be as rewarding as a few years ago, so every penny matters. Stabilizers can be viewed as an insurance policy to protect crop yield and preserve a farmer’s investments. Whether you’re concerned about nitrogen being a yield-limiting factor or concerned about nitrogen loss impacting water quality, nitrogen should always be protected.

Two options that meet these criteria set are Instinct and N-Serve nitrogen stabilizers. Instinct and N-Serve maximize nitrogen by extending its availability for up to eight weeks, during critical growth stages for corn and wheat, helping crops deliver the maximum yield at harvest.

The technology in Instinct and N-Serve, Optinyte (nitrapyrin) slows the conversion of ammonium nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen by inhibiting the activity of Nitrosomonas bacteria. This process is significant because, although corn and wheat use nitrogen in both forms, the crops prefer ammonium. The ammonium form is more efficient for plants to use and less susceptible to loss via leaching and denitrification. Optinyte is proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease leaching, increase soil nitrogen retention and provide an average yield increase of 7%.[1]

Over the past 40 years, more than 1,000 field trials and university studies have proven that the technology in Instinct and N-Serve deliver bottom-line results. In addition, Instinct and N-Serve meet the efficacy and environemental safety requirements for EPA registration.[2]

[1] Wolt, J.D. 2004. A meta-evaluation of nitrapyrin agronomic and environmental effectiveness with emphasis on corn production in the midwestern USA. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 69:23–41. doi:10.1023/B:FRES.0000025287.52565.99.
[2] (EPA) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2005. Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) Document for Nitrapyrin. https://archive.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/web/pdf/nitrapyrin_red.pdf

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