IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-024-55314-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate for maize in the US Midwest is increasing

Author

Listed:
  • Mitchell E. Baum

    (Iowa State University)

  • John E. Sawyer

    (Iowa State University)

  • Emerson D. Nafziger

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Michael J. Castellano

    (Iowa State University)

  • Marshall D. McDaniel

    (Iowa State University)

  • Mark A. Licht

    (Iowa State University)

  • Dermot J. Hayes

    (Iowa State University)

  • Matthew J. Helmers

    (Iowa State University)

  • Sotirios V. Archontoulis

    (Iowa State University)

Abstract

Fertilizing maize at an optimum nitrogen rate is imperative to maximize productivity and sustainability. Using a combination of long-term (n = 379) and short-term (n = 176) experiments, we show that the economic optimum nitrogen rate for US maize production has increased by 2.7 kg N ha−1 yr−1 from 1991 to 2021 (1.2% per year) simultaneously with grain yields and nitrogen losses. By accounting for societal cost estimates for nitrogen losses, we estimate an environmental optimum rate, which has also increased over time but at a lower rate than the economic optimum nitrogen rate. Furthermore, we provide evidence that reducing rates from the economic to environmental optimum nitrogen rate could reduce US maize productivity by 6% while slightly reducing nitrogen losses. We call for enhanced assessments and predictability of the economic and environmental optimum nitrogen rate to meet rising maize production while avoiding unnecessary nitrogen losses.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitchell E. Baum & John E. Sawyer & Emerson D. Nafziger & Michael J. Castellano & Marshall D. McDaniel & Mark A. Licht & Dermot J. Hayes & Matthew J. Helmers & Sotirios V. Archontoulis, 2025. "The optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate for maize in the US Midwest is increasing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55314-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55314-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55314-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-55314-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Balboa, G.R. & Archontoulis, S.V. & Salvagiotti, F. & Garcia, F.O. & Stewart, W.M. & Francisco, E. & Prasad, P.V. Vara & Ciampitti, I.A., 2019. "A systems-level yield gap assessment of maize-soybean rotation under high- and low-management inputs in the Western US Corn Belt using APSIM," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 145-154.
    2. Baum, Mitchell E. & Sawyer, John E. & Nafziger, Emerson D. & Huber, Isaiah & Thorburn, Peter J. & Castellano, Michael J. & Archontoulis, Sotirios V., 2023. "Evaluating and improving APSIM's capacity in simulating long-term corn yield response to nitrogen in continuous- and rotated-corn systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    3. Francisco Rosas & Bruce Babcock & Dermot Hayes, 2015. "Nitrous oxide emission reductions from cutting excessive nitrogen fertilizer applications," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 353-367, September.
    4. Searchinger, Timothy & Heimlich, Ralph & Houghton, R. A. & Dong, Fengxia & Elobeid, Amani & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Tokgoz, Simla & Hayes, Dermot J. & Yu, Hun-Hsiang, 2008. "Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12881, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    5. Xin Zhang & Eric A. Davidson & Denise L. Mauzerall & Timothy D. Searchinger & Patrice Dumas & Ye Shen, 2015. "Managing nitrogen for sustainable development," Nature, Nature, vol. 528(7580), pages 51-59, December.
    6. Kevin Rennert & Frank Errickson & Brian C. Prest & Lisa Rennels & Richard G. Newell & William Pizer & Cora Kingdon & Jordan Wingenroth & Roger Cooke & Bryan Parthum & David Smith & Kevin Cromar & Dela, 2022. "Comprehensive evidence implies a higher social cost of CO2," Nature, Nature, vol. 610(7933), pages 687-692, October.
    7. Li, Jianzheng & Wang, Ligang & Luo, Zhongkui & Wang, Enli & Wang, Guocheng & Zhou, Han & Li, Hu & Xu, Shiwei, 2021. "Reducing N2O emissions while maintaining yield in a wheat–maize rotation system modelled by APSIM," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Hongzhang & Ren, Hao & Zhang, Lihua & Zhao, Yali & Liu, Yuee & He, Qijin & Li, Geng & Han, Kun & Zhang, Jiwang & Zhao, Bin & Ren, Baizhao & Liu, Peng, 2023. "A sustainable approach to narrowing the summer maize yield gap experienced by smallholders in the North China Plain," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    2. Tianyi Qiu & Yu Shi & Josep Peñuelas & Ji Liu & Qingliang Cui & Jordi Sardans & Feng Zhou & Longlong Xia & Weiming Yan & Shuling Zhao & Shushi Peng & Jinshi Jian & Qinsi He & Wenju Zhang & Min Huang &, 2024. "Optimizing cover crop practices as a sustainable solution for global agroecosystem services," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Umeki, Kentaro & Mousa, Elsayed & Hedayati, Ali & Romar, Henrik & Kemppainen, Antti & Wang, Chuan & Phounglamcheik, Aekjuthon & Tuomikoski, Sari & Norberg, Nicklas & Andefors, Alf , 2018. "Use of biomass in integrated steelmaking – Status quo, future needs and comparison to other low-CO2 steel production technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 384-407.
    4. Tonini, Davide & Vadenbo, Carl & Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard, 2017. "Priority of domestic biomass resources for energy: Importance of national environmental targets in a climate perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 295-309.
    5. Lotze-Campen, Hermann & von Witzke, Harald & Noleppa, Steffen & Schwarz, Gerald, 2015. "Science for food, climate protection and welfare: An economic analysis of plant breeding research in Germany," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 79-84.
    6. Iriarte, Alfredo & Rieradevall, Joan & Gabarrell, Xavier, 2012. "Transition towards a more environmentally sustainable biodiesel in South America: The case of Chile," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 263-273.
    7. Knut Einar Rosendahl & Jon Strand, 2011. "Carbon Leakage from the Clean Development Mechanism," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 27-50.
    8. Qian Zhou & Feng Gui & Benxuan Zhao & Jingyi Liu & Huiwen Cai & Kaida Xu & Sheng Zhao, 2024. "Examining the Social Costs of Carbon Emissions and the Ecosystem Service Value in Island Ecosystems: An Analysis of the Zhoushan Archipelago," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Kriegler, Elmar, 2011. "Comment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 594-596, July.
    10. Ambec, Stefan & Esposito, Federico & Pacelli, Antonia, 2024. "The economics of carbon leakage mitigation policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Proost, Stef & Van Dender, Kurt, 2012. "Energy and environment challenges in the transport sector," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 77-87.
    12. repec:fpr:ifprib:2012ghienglish is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Canabarro, N.I. & Silva-Ortiz, P. & Nogueira, L.A.H. & Cantarella, H. & Maciel-Filho, R. & Souza, G.M., 2023. "Sustainability assessment of ethanol and biodiesel production in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    14. Tracey Osborne & Sylvia Cifuentes & Laura Dev & Seánna Howard & Elisa Marchi & Lauren Withey & Marcelo Santos Rocha da Silva, 2024. "Climate justice, forests, and Indigenous Peoples: toward an alternative to REDD + for the Amazon," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(8), pages 1-28, August.
    15. Baral, Nabin & Rabotyagov, Sergey, 2017. "How much are wood-based cellulosic biofuels worth in the Pacific Northwest? Ex-ante and ex-post analysis of local people's willingness to pay," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 99-106.
    16. Baka, Jennifer & Roland-Holst, David, 2009. "Food or fuel? What European farmers can contribute to Europe's transport energy requirements and the Doha Round," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2505-2513, July.
    17. Schleich, Joachim & Alsheimer, Sven, 2024. "The relationship between willingness to pay and carbon footprint knowledge: Are individuals willing to pay more to offset their carbon footprint if they learn about its size and distance to the 1.5 °C," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    18. Nguyen, Thu Lan T. & Hermansen, John E. & Mogensen, Lisbeth, 2010. "Fossil energy and GHG saving potentials of pig farming in the EU," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2561-2571, May.
    19. Sarah Jansen & William Foster & Gustavo Anríquez & Jorge Ortega, 2021. "Understanding Farm-Level Incentives within the Bioeconomy Framework: Prices, Product Quality, Losses, and Bio-Based Alternatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.
    20. Shortall, O.K., 2013. "“Marginal land” for energy crops: Exploring definitions and embedded assumptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 19-27.
    21. Argueyrolles, Robin & Delzeit, Ruth, 2022. "The interconnections between Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reforms and biofuels," Conference papers 333492, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-55314-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.