If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the climate initiative website, www.agclimate4u.org. Funded by USDA, hosted by Purdue University, and supported by a dozen land grant universities, the website offers news and views on climate in the Corn Belt, says Jim Angel, Illinois state climatologist.

The site was developed under USDA’s “Useful to Usable” climate initiative.

WEATHER HELP: A new climate site from USDA offers a wide range of resources and information about agriculture's favorite topic.

“Economic conditions are such that efficient N management is critical for earning a profit. Studies indicate that Split N applications to corn can improve profitability. But it can also increase risk. The Corn Split N tool helps farmers understand and manage the risk of split N applications,” said Ray Massey, Extension Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Missouri.

Among the site’s features:

Decision tools: in addition to the Corn Split N app, the Decision Dashboard area of the website offers AgClimate View, Corn GDD, and a Climate Patterns Viewer. This section also offers a Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator and Nitrogen Watch, which tracks rainfall and identifies potential N loss and deficiency.

Nitrogen tools: the Corn Split N application is designed to help farmers determine the feasibility and profitability of using post-planting nitrogen application. The tool combines historical weather and fieldwork data with economic considerations, and it’s currently available to all 12 Corn Belt states, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio and Michigan.

“We have combined corn yield response data from extension crop fertility specialists, together with statistical modeling of days suitable for fieldwork to expand the SplitN tool to cover seven new states,” said Benjamin Gramig, associate professor of Natural Resource and Environmental Economics at Purdue University.

Blog: The AgriClimate Connection blog is populated with information from project scientists and farmers, and covers topics like extended rotations, tillage management, climate, cover crops, IPM, weather and agriculture and nitrogen management.

Useful to Usable is a USDA-funded research and extension project comprising 50 faculty, staff and students from nine north-central U.S. universities with expertise in applied climatology, crop modeling, agronomy, cybertechnology, and agricultural economics and other social sciences.