OPTIMUM NITROGEN RATES FOR WHEAT DEPEND ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND FIELD-SPECIFIC CONDITIONS

Nitrogen is vital for crops — it is an essential nutrient whose efficient absorption makes high crop yields possible. Despite significant developments in wheat breeding and nutrient management, however, nitrogen use efficiency remains low in most cereal systems; in fact, Idaho wheat uses only about 50% of applied fertilizer nitrogen. This bulletin summarizes the results of multiyear field trials of nitrogen uptake and utilization in southern Idaho wheat-cropping systems. Along with gaining a deeper understanding of nitrogen uptake in these systems, researchers can use the data as a reference and the overall study as inspiration for developing additional nitrogen-efficiency scholarship.