NITROGEN
The following research has useful information growers can use to manage nitrogen organically.
Nitrogen has the greatest effect on yields of any nutrient. Other nutrients get used according to how much available nitrogen there is.
Nitrogen is also essential for building-up soil structure or aggregation.
Storage quality of crops after harvest is strongly influenced by nitrogen, as well. How can we use this useful information?
Biological materials have to be digested by the soil life before the applied nitrogen becomes available to crops;
the carbon nitrogen ratio (C/N) determines how long it takes and how much nitrogen is released
Some of the compost or manure or blood meal you apply for nitrogen is not available to crops the first year;
knowing the availability of the material you apply is a key challenge for biological farmers. This excerpt is from
research done in the Pacific Northwest by Oregon State University and the certifying body (CB) Oregon Tilth.
Field trials are used to determine how much of the materials applied becomes available to benefit crops
Crops are grouped according to how much nitrogen they need to produce commercial yields;
it would be useful to know what yields to expect from this much nitrogen … Do these recommendations make sense to you?
One of my jobs was to sell chemical fertilizer to large grain farmers in the Peace River region of BC, Canada
Conventional farmers use nitrogen balances profitably. Organic farmers do not, but should. Could conventional and organic farmers learn something from talking with each other?
