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TECHNICAL REPORT
Surface Water Quality

Nitrate Loss in Subsurface Drainage as Affected by Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate

USDA-ARS, National Soil Tilth Lab., 2150 Pammel Dr., Ames, IA 50011

* Corresponding author (jaynes{at}nstl.gov)

Received for publication August 25, 2000. The relationships between N fertilizer rate, yield, and NO₃ leaching need to be quantified to develop soil and crop management practices that are economically and environmentally sustainable. From 1996 through 1999, we measured yield and NO₃ loss from a subsurface drained field in central Iowa at three N fertilizer rates: a low (L) rate of 67 kg ha^-1 in 1996 and 57 kg ha^-1 in 1998, a medium (M) rate of 135 kg ha^-1 in 1996 and 114 kg ha^-1 in 1998, and a high (H) rate of 202 kg ha^-1 in 1996 and 172 kg ha^-1 in 1998. Corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] were grown in rotation with N fertilizer applied in the spring to corn only. For the L treatment, NO₃ concentrations in the drainage water exceeded the 10 mg N L^-1 maximum contaminant level (MCL) established by the USEPA for drinking water only during the years that corn was grown. For the M and H treatments, NO₃ concentrations exceeded the MCL in all years, regardless of crop grown. For all years, the NO₃ mass loss in tile drainage water from the H treatment (48 kg N ha^-1) was significantly greater than the mass losses from the M (35 kg N ha^-1) and L (29 kg N ha^-1) treatments, which were not significantly different. The economically optimum N fertilizer rate for corn was between 67 and 135 kg ha^-1 in 1996 and 114 and 172 kg ha^-1 in 1998, but the net N mass balance indicated that N was being mined from the soil at these N fertilizer levels and that the system would not be sustainable.

Abbreviations: H, high nitrogen fertilizer treatment • L, low nitrogen fertilizer treatment • M, medium nitrogen fertilizer treatment • MCL, maximum contaminant level

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