A Nitrogen Rate of Return Calculator for Wheat, Barley and Canola in Manitoba.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer recommendations for spring wheat, barley and canola have not been updated in Manitoba since the early 1990’s.  A collaborative research project involved interpretation of a recent data base of nitrogen response studies conducted by Western Cooperative Fertilizers Limited investigating 147 trials with wheat, 97 with barley and 34 with hybrid and open pollinated canola.  Due to the predominant influence of moisture on yield potential, cereal sites were assigned to soil moisture categories according to moist, dry and arid areas of the province.  Average yield response functions were determined with soil nitrate-nitrogen to 60 cm depth as a factor.  With extremely volatile crop and nitrogen prices, N rate guidelines were developed in a spreadsheet format, allowing the user to evaluate different net return per acre scenarios involving N source and cost, the expected crop price and soil nitrogen. The user must select appropriate soil moisture supply categories for wheat and barley, which in turn represent yield potential.  This downloadable calculator is available at: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/financial/farm/nitrogencalc.html