Nutrient Management (NRCS #590)

Applicable Systems

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About

Nutrient management plans strive to improve crop nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient loss to the environment. Effective nutrient management should consider all nutrient inputs into a system, including cover crop credits, legume credits, manure additions, inorganic fertilizer, and irrigation¹ ². Tools for effective nutrient management include soil testing, in-season tissue sampling, split application of fertilizer, and precision agriculture.

Key aspects and considerations:

Nutrient management planning includes use of the 4R's.
Right timing: apply nutrients at the right time to best match crop needs while reducing nutrient loss.
Right place: apply nutrients at the right place, such as the plant root zone, so plants can easily access available nutrients. To ensure the right placement, the method of application should be considered. Injection and incorporation offer options to reduce nutrient loss that often occurs through broadcast application.
Right rate: apply nutrients to match crop nutrient needs, and ensure that all forms of nutrients are credited, or accounted for.
Right source: apply the right form of nutrients by considering plant nutrient needs and soil testing.
Consider field specific characteristics such as soil type, slope, soil nutrient availability, crop, previous crop, weather and seasonal conditions, distance to surface waters, vulnerable areas, management, and additional site characteristics.

Benefits and Limitations

ACRE Category	Benefits	Limitations
Soil Health	Improves soil health indicators, such as total nitrogen, soil organic carbon, and soil organic matter. Nutrient management and soil health are intertwined due to the role soil microbes play in transforming nutrients into plant-available forms and the ability of soil to store nutrients.	Nitrogen fertilizer increases decay rates and may offset increases in soil carbon³. Requires additional erosion-control practices to address sediment loss.
Water Management	Reduces water contamination and risk of eutrophication through proper nutrient application rates, time, placement and sources. Protects water quality.	Legacy soil nutrients from historical over-application may inhibit water quality benefits⁴. Nutrient management alone is unlikely to meet water quality goals⁵ ⁶ ⁷.
Nutrient Management	Improves nutrient use efficiency within cropping systems⁸. Reduces nutrient losses to both surface and groundwater through decreases in nutrient runoff and leaching. Supports precision agriculture and site-specific management.	Managing nutrients based on rate, placement, timing, and source increases management complexity. Effective nutrient management needs to consider changes in weather and seasonal trends.
Agricultural Production	Maximizes crop yield and quality by minimizing nutrient deficiencies. Supports long-term productivity.	Poor implementation may reduce yields due to under- or over-fertilization.
Biodiversity and Wildlife	May increase soil microbial diversity and bacterial community structure⁹. Excess nutrients are linked to biodiversity loss, especially in aquatic systems. By reducing or avoiding eutrophic conditions, nutrient management planning protects and maintains biodiversity.	Greater reductions in fertilizer, wider adoption, and additional management strategies are needed to reduce the dead zone and upstream contamination.
GHG Emission	May reduce fertilizer use, and as a result, reduce nitrous oxide emissions (N₂O). Reduces energy use associated with fertilizer production and by avoiding unnecessary applications. Properly managed nutrients may increase biomass and carbon storage.	N₂O emissions may remain elevated, even with reduced nitrogen application rates¹⁰. Other management considerations, such as crop selection, are more effective at increasing soil carbon sequestration³.
Economics	Reduces fertilizer costs by improving nutrient use efficiency, with recent work showing an average savings of $29 per acre. USDA offers EQIP and CSP cost share programs to assist farmers with nutrient planning and precision agriculture.	Variable rate technology and soil testing may increase management costs. May increase labor, depending on the nutrient management strategy.

Impact on Agricultural Resilience

Nutrient management planning increases the ability of cropping systems to remain productive while reducing nutrient losses amid changing precipitation trends. Nutrient management is crucial given increases in extreme rainfall events, which can exacerbate nutrient losses.
Additionally, water and heat stress can impact plant nutrient uptake. Managing nutrients based on changes in plant demand helps reduce environmental loss and reduce fertilizer costs.

Regional Applicability

Nutrient management planning is applicable to all regions of the U.S., but is especially applicable in the Midwest, where large-scale agriculture and fertilizer and manure application are common. Corn cropping systems in the Midwest receive some of the highest amounts of fertilizer and are also prone to high nitrogen losses⁵. Additionally, sandy soil is more vulnerable to nutrient losses than other soil textures, making nutrient management planning especially important in sandy regions of the Midwest.
Nutrient management plans need to meet requirements which may vary by state, in addition to the NRCS conservation practice standard. While all farms should use a nutrient management plan, nutrient management plans are required for Wisconsin farmers participating in various cost-share and preservation programs, as well as farms with large livestock operations.

Case Studies

In Illinois, Ifft Yorkshire Farms implemented nutrient management planning on their 1,650 acre corn and soybean farm. After implementing nutrient management planning, the farm was able to reduce phosphorus and potassium application by 20%, resulting in savings of about $20 per acre.
At Homewood Farms in central Ohio, Dan and Jennifer Lane practice nutrient management, strip-till and cover cropping on their corn and soybean farm. To improve nutrient use efficiency, Dan applies nutrients in multiple banded applications. Describing his management decisions, Dan states: "I believe I figured out a suite of soil health practices that help get my crops started right and early in the spring, while providing efficient feeding of nutrients throughout the growing season."

Resources

USDA: SMART Nutrient Management
USDA-NRCS Webinar: Achieving Water Quality Outcomes through Nutrient and Water Management
University of Wisconsin Extension: Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP)
University of Wisconsin Nutrient Management software: SnapPlus
University of Wisconsin Extension: Field Notes Podcast - Nutrient Management Planning and Soil Health
University of Wisconsin: Nutrient Management Self-Paced Program
Iowa State University: Nutrient Management Research
Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council
Purdue University: Nutrient Management Online Course
University of Wisconsin: Nitrate Leaching Calculator
University of Minnesota and others: Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator
American Farmland Trust and USDA-NRCS: Soil Health Case Study Findings

References

USDA-NRCS (2017). Conservation Practice Standard Document, Nutrient Management, Code 590. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Nutrient_Management_590_NHCP_CPS_2017.pdf
USDA-NRCS (2019). Conservation Practice Overview, Nutrient Management, Code 590. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Nutrient_Management_590_NHCP_PO_2018.pdf
Russell, A. E., Cambardella, C. A., Laird, D. A., Jaynes, D. B., & Meek, D. W. (2009). Nitrogen fertilizer effects on soil carbon balances in Midwestern US agricultural systems. Ecological Applications, 19(5), 1102-1113.
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., & Van Cappellen, P. (2017). Two centuries of nitrogen dynamics: Legacy sources and sinks in the Mississippi and Susquehanna River Basins. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 31(1), 2-23.
Shrestha, D., Masarik, K., & Kucharik, C. J. (2023). Nitrate losses from Midwest US agroecosystems: Impacts of varied management and precipitation. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 78(2), 141-153.
Campbell, T. A., Booth, E. G., Gratton, C., Jackson, R. D., & Kucharik, C. J. (2022). Agricultural landscape transformation needed to meet water quality goals in the Yahara River watershed of Southern Wisconsin. Ecosystems, 25(3), 507-525.
Dinnes, D. L., Karlen, D. L., Jaynes, D. B., Kaspar, T. C., Hatfield, J. L., Colvin, T. S., & Cambardella, C. A. (2002). Nitrogen management strategies to reduce nitrate leaching in tile-drained Midwestern soils. Agronomy Journal, 94(1), 153-171.
Davies, B., Coulter, J. A., & Pagliari, P. H. (2020). Timing and rate of nitrogen fertilization influence maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency. PLOS ONE, 15(5), e0233674.
Soman, C., Li, D., Wander, M. M., & Kent, A. D. (2017). Long-term fertilizer and crop-rotation treatments differentially affect soil bacterial community structure. Plant and Soil, 413(1), 145-159.
Gelfand, I., Shcherbak, I., Millar, N., Kravchenko, A. N., & Robertson, G. P. (2016). Long-term nitrous oxide fluxes in annual and perennial agricultural and unmanaged ecosystems in the upper Midwest USA. Global Change Biology, 22(11), 3594-3607.

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Nutrient Management photo 1 — Photo 1: A key component of nutrient management planning is applying fertilizer at the right rate, right place, right time, and with the right source.

Photo courtesy of Iowa NRCS.