Test soils at 2 depths; 0-30cm and 30 – 90 cm.
Use a crop calculator to work out how much nitrogen to apply to the crop. Crop calculators like the wheat calculator and AmaizeN work out the most economic rate of nitrogen for the crop based on a predicted yield and the soil nitrogen reserves from your soil test. These calculators estimate yield by considering the long term weather patterns for your region and your soil type.
Manage your crop so that it can use as much of the nitrogen supply as possible. Good soil structure and irrigation management is important for reaching the crop’s potential yield.
If possible avoid leaving land fallow. This may be a challenge with late harvested maize grain crops where it is too late to establish grass or a winter cover crop. It is risky to graze the crop debris on winter-fallow, maize ground as animal urine adds an additional nitrogen load. Winter cultivation can also increase leaching risk because it stimulates mineralisation.