Efficacy of Nitrogen Stabilizers On Mitigating Fertilizer Ammonia-Nitrogen Loss.

Surface application of ammonical fertilizers such as, urea and UAN result in atmospheric ammonia nitrogen loss. In response, companies are manufacturing nitrogen stabilizers in an effort to “seal” this mode of nitrogen “leak”. Eleven treatments (Agrotain, AgrotainPlus, Nutrisfere, Nitamin, SuperU, UAN, urea, bare soil, and a blank) replicated three times were used in this study. Two types of soil, Galestown sandy loam and Mattapex Variant silt loam were weighed (200 g) into mason jars (soil chambers) followed by a 14 d pre-incubation. Treatments were randomly assigned to the two soil types, in a completely randomized design (CRD) at a rate of 179 kg-N ha-1. The chambers were designed to allow an air sweep at 0.3 L min-1 above the soil/treatment combination to force the volatilizing NH3 (g) into a 0.05 M H2SO4 acid traps. The acid-trapped NH3 (g) was sampled periodically for 41 d and colorimetrically analyzed for NH3-N on the Lachat. Results indicate that whereas majority of N stabilizers controlled fertilizer NH3-N loss, their effectiveness were different (P < 0.001) both periodically and cumulatively. Significant differences (P < 0.001) were also found on the efficacy of N stabilizers in the two soil types. Nitrogen stabilizers can control NH3-N loss; however, their effectiveness is limited by the stabilizer's chemical composition and soil type.