2-21 FB GPS Nitrogen

  It has been a long held rule that nitrogen should not be applied to a corn field within a week to 10 days of planting. This is because it can cause series damage to the seedling says Extension Soil Fertility Specialist Fabian Fernandez, but GPS is changing everything about side-dressing anhydrous ammonia:“The concern of course with the application of anhydrous ammonia is the potential root injury that you might cause. If you are using a GPS and you know that you are applying it between rows, if you are separating it quite a distance like 30 inch rows, a 15 inch separation from where the plant is that should be no problem at all. It could be done at the same time of planting, but the important thing is to keep the nitrogen away from where the seed is germinating. Another important thing to consider, especially with a side dress application at  he time of planting is the soil conditions. If we are to wet, even if we are planting at 15 inch distance from the row, we can have some ammonia losses as we are planting that anhydrous ammonia and that can cause some tissue injury.