Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Tom Novak​

Tom Novak is a 2023 Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipient evaluating corn MRTN rates on coarse vs loam soil types. Novak had this to say about his long history of on-farm research and why it’s important to keep asking questions: “Back in the late 90's, I teamed up doing N rate trials with our Jefferson County Crops and Soils agent, Matt Hanson, and we continued trials for the next 10 years. One of the results taught us that being efficient with N use (side-dressing) was extremely important when discussing what the 'correct' N rate should be. This decade of trials also showed us the UW-recommended rates were adequate. However, some things, like non-responsive trials, nagged at us and we never got the 'why' figured out. Flash forward to the present day, and with a good funding source in place, we can run different tests, like preplant N, pre-sidedress N, ear leaf samples, and more, which were too expensive when we had no budget! This will help us understand the 'why' when odd things happen. 

The new twist over this two-year project is beyond getting yield data over six N rates; I'm comparing light sandy loam soils to some black loam soils to see if optimum N rates at each yield level is the same, or if not, can we get by with less N on lighter/droughty soils as some variable rate models suggest.”

Evaluating Biological N Project

Jim Hebbe is a 2023 Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program grant recipient evaluating a biological nitrogen product in maintaining corn yield. When asked why he chose to apply for a grant to study this topic, Jim said it had a lot to do with lack of available research: “My normal source of info for a lot of farm decisions starts with UW. So, I contacted our local Extension Educator, Natasha Paris, and asked what the university is saying about Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any university research to help make a good decision. All of a sudden, the NOPP grant was announced, and we thought this would be a wonderful thing to do. Natasha provided the support and confidence that we could do this together.” 

The responsibility of using nitrogen efficiently is something that Jim takes very seriously.

“I’ve worked with Matt Ruark through the years on nitrogen plots on our farm and always thought this was a good thing to do. We drink our groundwater, too, and we certainly don’t want to be overapplying nitrogen. ​It’s exciting to think that, if a product like [Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40] can and will work, I love the idea of 40 units of nitrogen that isn’t needing to be produced with fossil fuel. We want to have confidence that things are done correctly. With myself being the consumer of nitrogen, I’m going to be critical of decisions and use of nitrogen because I’m the stakeholder.”​​​