Nitrogen Economics

NITROMAX is an Excel spreadsheet program designed to help farmers apply the most profitable rate of nitrogen fertilizer under varying commodity price situations. The program can be used on corn, cotton, rice, and grain sorghum. Marginal analysis is used to make practical applications of university research data generated from over 30 fertility experiments. You can select the test situation closest to your farm based soil type, tillage system, and irrigation availability.

Response equations in the program are used to predict crop yields at different nitrogen rates. NITROMAX applies nitrogen fertilizer to the point where the added cost (Marginal Input Cost) is equal to the added return (Marginal Revenue Product).  You can choose between U.S. Standard and Metric units to display output. Note: All yield values shown are only predictions based on empirical equations developed from field experiments.

Crop Section: View the type of crops available (corn, cotton, rice, or grain sorghum) by using the up and down arrow in the crop dialogue box.  Move the cursor to the text name of the desired crop and click to select it. Click “U.S. Standard” for displaying units in pounds and acres.
Fertilizer Section: Select the desired N fertilizer by clicking on the appropriate option button. Use the up and down arrows to enter fertilizer prices per ton.  Nitromax automatically calculates the price per lb N or price per kg N and displays it on the right side of the fertilizer section box.
Response Curve Section: View response curve options in the dialogue box by scrolling with the up and down arrows. The location and date of the supporting field research for each curve is shown in the box. (example: Charleston, Mo 1999, irrigated).