Viewpoint: ‘Farmers don’t need nitrogen fertilizers at all’? — Why easy solutions to cut down on chemical fertilizers don’t work

“Farmers don’t need nitrogen fertilizers at all.”

With urea prices triple what they were last year, this headline caught my attention. What was this breakthrough that was going to liberate farmers from one of their largest input costs?

Clover, it turns out, can be used to fix nitrogen and boost yields in pasture forages for dairy cows. Who knew?

Oh, wait. What were those bales that used to scratch the heck out of my thighs right through my jeans when I was a kid in the 1970s? Clover. Not exactly a new idea.

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Any farmer looking at this year’s inputs bill would be delighted to give up N. But cutting it to zero comes with, by some estimates, a 20 percent yield penalty that would drive margins underwater. And it would also do little to reduce early spring nitrous oxide release from soil microbes breaking down crop residue, which can account for up to 80 percent of a field’s emissions. And, and…

Well, if you see a simple, neat solution to the nitrogen problem, it’s probably wrong.

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