Nitrogen Flexibility, ROI & 2026 Input Planning

The cost of fertilizer inputs is top-of-mind for growers across the country.  From choosing the right timing to interpreting real-time crop and soil conditions, the right in-season nitrogen plan can be the difference between hitting yield goals and leaving bushels – and dollars – on the table.

The team at Wilbur-Ellis is behind a new nitrogen efficiency tool that’s turning heads in corn, soybean, and wheat country.  Matt Werner, a Wilbur-Ellis branded technologies portfolio manager, said the momentum behind the new product comes from growers wanting smarter ways to manage rising nitrogen prices.

Management Is Key

“There are a lot of ways to manage nitrogen, and everyone always gets a lot more interested in that when UAN and urea shoot up in price," Werner said.  "Placement. Stabilizers. We felt like there was a missing piece there, and so we launched NUTRIO N-TUNE, which is a biological option to fix nitrogen from the air and directly into the soil, so you get kind of a slow and steady supply throughout the season. We've seen good results this year. We priced it to be a lot lower than the nitrogen that it's replacing in the program, and give growers an incentive to try to drive down the cost of production, which I know everyone's looking at this year with those high prices.”

Robb Mohr, Wilbur-Ellis agronomist and branded nutrition manager, said it’s not just a corn product.

“It can also be applied to small grains, like wheat, soybeans, potatoes, and any crop that needs nitrogen," Mohr noted.  "What makes this product stand out is the application window. So, whether you want to put it on pre-emerge, early post, or almost early foliar applications, as long as it can touch the soil, the biologic will start to work for you. It's also very compatible with a lot of the chemistries that are out there; fungicides, insecticides, so it's not like you need to make an extra pass when you're putting this product on. It can just fit in to meet your needs when you're applying your other products.”

Flexibility is A Big Deal

Mohr said the flexibility is a big deal because crops don’t take up nitrogen evenly throughout the growing season.

“Corn has a demand all year long, sometimes higher demands during vegetative growth and also during tasseling, when it's pollinating," he said.  "So, N-TUNE, what we've seen, can deliver nitrogen season-long. So, once you apply it, it starts converting that atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium form of N, so your plant has readily available nitrogen throughout the season, as long as that product is out there. This is the time for this product to shine, because we're not comfortable with some major flooding or heavy rains, and then areas up north, where it's been extremely dry, this product has continued to show off and provide nitrogen throughout the season.”

When it comes to ROI, Werner noted things are shaping up.

“We were up in Michigan, and saw some plots where we tried to look for differences and saw them," Werner said.  "We saw firing in the lower leaves, even at 100% N. Where we used N-TUNE, we didn't see that. And so, the ROI the growers are expecting is at least three to one. Because of weather events this year, especially the soil we were looking at was a little sandier, a little lighter, and clearly can't hold as much nitrogen as the crop needs, so I think the ROI is going to be a lot higher than three to one. That's what we're trying to do here is drive down the cost of production for the grower and here at Wilbur-Ellis, we're also trying to give growers something that they can use every season and depend on, and it's not going to cost a lot more than the nitrogen that they could potentially replace in the program with the product.”

It May Be Too Late For 2025, But...

Visually, Mohr said they see a huge difference when using N-Tune, but it is important to remember that it’s likely too late for an application this season.

“We’re seeing a lot of differences in those lower leaves and not firing, and we've tested this where we've reduced the N or where we've had 100% N of what the growers would normally apply, and still seeing differences in flow," Mohr said.  "We also saw it out earlier this year on wheat. Where we got it out early, right when the wheat was breaking dormancy, and we had an average of 9.5 bushels increase in our wheat. So just that spoon-feeding nitrogen, just giving it just a little bit every day, sure does make a difference.”

For more information about NUTRIO N-Tune, go to StayNTune.com.

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