In April 2026 commercial nitrogen fertilizer prices increased approximately 30 percent since fall 2025. Fortunately there are nutrient management choices farmers can make to minimize financial impacts of that sudden price increase.
Manage nitrogen efficiently
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Corn is approximately knee high, which is the time when many synthetic fertilizer applications occur.
The illustration shows various pounds of synthetic nitrogen applied along the x-axis with the bushels per acre of corn yield along the y-axis. That yield curve shows the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer rate that will no longer provide yield returns greater than fertilizer costs, also known as the Economic Optimum Nitrogen Rate.
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