Wouldn't it be great to precisely tailor nitrogen applications with a field-specific tool? More than 18 years ago, Harold van Es, Cornell's Crop and Soil Sciences chairman, hatched the idea. And now, after years of development, it's field-ready.

In 2010, the Adapt-N software was field-tested in New York and Iowa, and it passed. In brief, you can tap a Cornell-based web site, plug in your field information. The software analyzes local weather data and calculates environmental losses from fertilizer and manure applications, then sends you its N recommendation.

IN-FIELD SMART: The Adapt-N web interface is designed so you can tap the software even via a smart phone in a cornfield – in Iowa. Photo by Harold van Es

"Today, we can have far better than plus or minus 40% accuracy," says van Es. Adapt-N uses field information entered by farmers in tandem with data from the Northeast Regional Climate Center and accommodates year-to-year and field-to-field variability of nitrogen availability.

"Corn gets nitrogen from a number of sources and there are many ways nitrogen can get lost from the root zone as a result of weather-related factors," points out Jeff Melkonian, Cornell University agronomy researcher. "Adapt-N tool provides more precise, field-specific nitrogen recommendations based on early season weather's impact."

Melkonian says, "In warm weather, nitrogen mineralizes faster from organic matter in the soil to become available to the corn, while the opposite is true in colder weather. In a drier spring, nitrogen mineralizes and remains in the root zone where the corn can take it up, while in a wetter year the nutrient may leach out of reach of the crop roots."

Farmers interested in using Adapt-N must contact Melkonian at [email protected] for a user ID and password entry.

After a funding shortfall in 2010, Adapt-N is back on track with additional funding via a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant. "The tool has been refined, and we have a good web interface," adds Van Es.

Learn more about it at http://adapt-n.eas.cornell.edu . Catch more Adapt-N details in February's American Agriculturist.