As we continue to push the boundaries of corn yields, growers need soil with a complete and balanced nutrient profile.
One of the key nutrients for corn is boron. It plays an important role in transferring sugars and nutrients within the plant, increases pollination and helps move carbohydrates to the grain.
Boron application timing can be the biggest challenge. Boron is water soluble and extremely mobile in the soil, so it is prone to leaching under wet conditions.
Because it moves into the plant through mass flow with water, it becomes unavailable to the plant under dry conditions, as transpiration slows.
Furthermore, boron mobility within the plant is extremely limited, so getting boron to the right place at the right time can be difficult.
Research by Heard, Manitoba Agriculture, on boron uptake in corn has shown that more than two thirds of uptake occurs from R1 onward, which makes the UAN application timing ideal for adding boron.
Agro-100 specifically designed Nitro-B as a 10% liquid boron source to be tank mixed with UAN for sidedress applications.
Nitro-B mixes completely with UAN and allows a uniform application of nitrogen and boron across the entire field in a single pass.
By adding boron at this time, boron uptake can be maximized while reducing the potential for nutrient loss in the field.
Since boron and nitrogen both follow the water lost through evaporation, adding them together at sidedress timing, at the growth stage when uptake demand begins to peak, places boron in the right place, at the right time and in a readily available form for the crop to absorb quickly.
Nine on-farm field trials since 2019 have shown a consistent yield increase from adding Nitro-B to UAN.
Whether injected or surface applied, adding Nitro-B resulted in:
By combining boron application with the UAN application, Nitro-B makes it possible to integrate this nutrient into the corn fertilization program when the crop’s needs begin to increase.
