Nick and Amanda Kleiber
Nick and Amanda Kleiber are 2024 Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP) grant recipients! Their study is investigating economical nitrogen rates on no-till corn in Sheboygan County. While the Kleibers have done their fair share of on-farm experimentation (including hybrid and variety trials), this was their first time conducting a fully replicated trial. Nick says, in contrast to a side-by-side demo plot, “You don’t realize how important the replication is until you do it."
For example, Nick and Amanda have been advised that it would be economically beneficial to apply sulfur (S) to their corn crop, but Nick couldn’t find a benefit (in yield or visually) when testing this in a non-replicated fashion. When NOPP came around, they figured this could be an opportunity to test the idea more accurately. So, in addition to the four nitrogen rates (0, 60, 120, and 180 lb-N/ac), Nick and Amanda included a treatment where 120 lb-N/ac was accompanied by an application of sulfur.
Following the first of this two-year study, Nick had some advice for anyone doing on-farm research: “Take pictures!” He points out that good record-keeping is extremely important, and the pictures include a timestamp that can be referenced following the season.