Institute of Ag Professionals
Proceedings of the
2011 Crop Pest Management Shortcourse &
Minnesota Crop Production Retailers Association Trade Show
www.extension.umn.edu/AgProfessionals
Do not reproduce or redistribute without the written consent of author(s).
Instinct™ Research Results for a
“New” Nitrification Inhibitor
2011 CPM Short Course
Dec. 14 and 15 Minneapolis, MN
Jeff Vetsch
Univ. of Minnesota
Southern Research and Outreach Center
Nitrogen products and their purpose
Chemical or Compound
Common Product Names
Dicyandiamide (DCD)
Guardian®
Nitrapyrin
N-Serve®, Instinct®
NBPT
Agrotain®
NBPT + DCD
Agrotain®Plus, SuperU®
ATS (0.1% by volume)
Ammonium thiosulfate
Polymer-coated urea (PCU) ESN®, Polyon®, Duration®
Malic+itaconic acid co-polymer Nutrisphere®
Process Affected
Nitrification
Nitrification
N volatilization
Nitrification, N volatilization
N Volatilization
N release
Nitrification, N volatilization
adapted from Hergert et al.
Introduction
• Instinct™ is an encapsulated formulation of
the nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin (same
active ingredient in N-Serve™).
• The encapsulation is designed to:
– Protect the inhibitor from volatilization loss and fixation
on clay particles and organic matter.
– Allow it to remain on the soil surface for up to 10 days
before incorporation (0.5” rain or mechanical).
Instinct research in MN
• Efficacy and nitrification inhibition field
tested with rain shelters (2006-7)
• With preplant applications of UAN from
2008-11.
• With fall-applied swine manure in 2010 and
2011 at 35 and 70 oz/ac.
• Impregnated on urea (fall 2010 and 2011).
• On-going, manure, UAN and urea will
continue in 2012.
Results for Instinct™
Applications with UAN
(28%)
Methods for 2008-10 UAN study
• Treatments (4)
– Two N rates (80 and 120 lb N/ac) with and without
Instinct at 35 oz/ac
– Corn after corn in 2009, corn after beans in 2008
and 2010
– Generally, below normal growing season
precipitation in 2008 and 2009.
– Record June + July precipitation in 2010
– Nicollet – Webster clay loam soils at Waseca
Corn yield and relative leaf chlorophyll
content as affected by UAN (PPI) with
and without Instinct™.
Corn grain yield
Instinct 2008 2009 2010
fl oz/ac -------- bu/ac --------
R1 Leaf chlorophyll
2008 2009 2010
----------- % -----------
0
148 a 187 a 175 b
95 a 96 a 97 b
35
150 a 188 a 186 a
93 a 96 a 99 a
Data are an average of 80 and 120 lb N/ac rates
2011 Spring N Source Study at Waseca
• Nitrogen Sources
– AA, urea, UAN
• Time of N application
– Preplant incorporated and pre-emerge
• Nitrification inhibitors
– N-Serve™ and Instinct™
• Corn following soybean at 100 lb N/ac
2011 Spring N Source Study, Waseca
N
Source
N Management Grain Leaf chlorophyll
Time N-Inhibitor Yield V10
R1
bu/A
%
%
Check none
No
AA
PP
No
AA
PP
N-Serve
Urea
PPI
No
UAN
PPI
No
UAN
PPI
Instinct
UAN
Pre
No
Average LSD (0.10):
121
198
201
192
160
163
155
13
68.0
98.1
99.6
97.6
84.5
87.2
83.3
3.3
74.4
98.8
99.4
99.0
86.6
86.7
86.2
3.2
2011 Corn yield and NO3-N losses to tile
drainage as affected by UAN ± Instinct
Adding Instinct to UAN didn’t affect corn yield or
NO3-N concentration and losses in tile water.
Research summary for UAN & Instinct
• The addition of Instinct to UAN applied
preplant incorporated increased corn
grain yield (11 bu/ac) in 1 of 5 site-years
(2010, wet summer) at Waseca
Results for Instinct™
Applications with
Manure
2011 Methods for manure study
• Treatments (8)
– Two manure application timings: Oct. 5 & Nov. 5
of 2010.
• Manure rate [2440 (Oct) & 2700 gal/ac (Nov)] was
adjusted based on the manure analysis from each
application timing to give 120 lb of available N/ac based
on 80% availability if sweep injected.
– Three rates of Instinct (0, 35, and 70 oz./ac)
– 120 lb N/ac as AA w/N-Serve on Nov. 5
– Control (zero N)
Methods cont.
• Experimental site:
– Webster clay loam: OM=4.9%, Bray P1=22 ppm
(VH), Exch. K=183 ppm (VH), pH=6.0.
• Previous crop: soybean
• Planted corn (Mycogen 2G500) at 35K
seeds/ac on May 4
• Soil
Measurements
– On Nov. 8, 2010 took 0-1’ samples from manure
bands (Oct. appl only) for NO3 & NH4N
– On Jun. 1, 2011 took 0-3’ samples in one-foot
increments from all treatments for NO3 & NH4N
• Plant
– SPAD chlorophyll meter at V10 and R1
– Corn stover yield and N concentration at PM
• Grain at harvest
– Yield and protein (N concentration by NIR)
Precipitation and temperature (air
and soil) departures from normal.
Parameter
Sep Oct Nov Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
-------- Departures from normal ---------
Precip. inch
9.5 -1.5
0.1
1.2
0.7
1.0 2.7 -3.7 -2.3
0.8 5.0 1.1 -0.6
Air temp. F
-1.3
3.3
1.8 -1.1
-1.4
4” soil temp.
-2.7
4.9
1.4
-3.6 -0.3 3.5 3.8 1.5
0.5
Deep snowpack resulted in 3-4” of tile drainage in March.
Nitrate / ammonium nitrogen, ppm
Soil NO3-N and NH4-N as affected by October
swine manure application and Instinct™ rate.
Nitrate-N
Ammonium
50
40
30
20
10
0
Oct + 0 oz/ac Oct + 35 oz Oct + 70 oz
Nov. 8, 2010 sampling.
0-1 ft depth sample
Control
Manure treatment + Instinct Rate
Soil NH4-N on June 1, 2011 as affected by
manure application timing and Instinct™ rate.
30
Ammonium-N, ppm
25
20
15
10
5
0
Oct+0 Oct+35 Oct+70 Nov+0 Nov+35 Nov+70
0-1 ft depth sample
Treatment
AA
Control
Soil NO3-N on June 1, 2011 as affected by
manure application timing and Instinct™ rate.
160
Nitrate-N, lb N acre
-1
140
0-1 ft
1-2 ft
2-3 ft
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Oct+0 Oct+35 Oct+70 Nov+0 Nov+35 Nov+70
Treatment
AA
Control
Observations: soil data
• In November about a month after application,
significantly less NO3-N and greater NH4-N
were found when Instinct was added to fallinjected swine manure.
• By June, NH4-N concentrations in the manure
plots were not different from the control,
indicating most of the N had been nitrified.
• In June, significant movement of NO3-N in the
soil profile had occurred in all treatments.
0-N control
Oct. manure + 35 oz
Oct. manure
Oct. manure + 70 oz
Relative leaf chlorophyll content as affected by
manure application timing and Instinct™ rate.
Relative leaf chlorophyll content, %
100
V10
R1
90
80
70
60
Oct+0 Oct+35 Oct+70 Nov+0 Nov+35 Nov+70
Treatment
AA
Control
Observations: chlorophyll data
• Significantly greater RLC at R1 with Nov
(96.8%) application vs Oct (92.2%), when
averaged across Instinct rate.
• RLC increased with increasing Instinct rate:
91.6, 94.9, and 97.0% for the 0, 35, and 70
oz/ac rates, respectively.
• These data show Instinct is an effective
nitrification inhibitor for swine manure.
Table 1. Corn grain moisture and yield as affected by swine
manure application timing and Instinct rate at Waseca.
Manure
Instinct™ Avail. N Grain
Grain
Trt Timing
Rate
Rate
Rate*
H2O
Yield
#
gal/ac
oz/ac
lb N/ac
%
bu/ac
1
Oct
2700
0
120
25.4
171
2
Oct
2700
35
120
23.6
180
3
Oct
2700
70
120
23.4
185
4
Nov
2440
0
120
24.2
182
5
Nov
2440
35
120
23.6
194
6
Nov
2440
70
120
23.4
194
Manure application timing
October 5
24.1 a
179 b
November 5
23.7 a
190 a
Instinct rate
Zero
24.8 a
177 b
35 oz/ac
23.6 b
187 a
70 oz/ac
23.4 b
189 a
Interactions (P > F)
Manure timing × Instinct rate
0.429
0.762
* Manure rate equals 120 lb of available N/acre, based on
80% availability for sweep injected swine finishing manure.
Corn grain yield as affected by manure
application timing and Instinct™ rate.
200
Grain yield, bu/ac
d
c
bc
bc
a
a
ab
150
e
100
50
0
Oct+0 Oct+35 Oct+70 Nov+0 Nov+35 Nov+70
Treatment
AA
Control
Observations: Yield data
• Delaying application of manure from October
to November increased corn grain yields 11
bu/ac in this warmer than normal fall/year.
• The addition of Instinct to fall-applied swine
manure increased yields from 10 to 12
bu/ac and decreased corn grain moisture.
• November application of swine manure with
Instinct produced similar yields as fallapplied anhydrous ammonia with N-Serve.
Nitrate / ammonium nitrogen, ppm
Soil NO3-N and NH4-N as affected by swine
manure application timing and Instinct™.
Nitrate-N
Ammonium
60
40
20
0
A
3
ug
1
A
3
ug
Nov. 11, 2011 sampling.
0-1 ft depth sample
1
st
n
I
+
t
Oc
6
t
Oc
t
Ins
+
6
v
No
3
v
No
s
+In
3
Manure application timing
t
l
tro
n
Co
Hernandez and Vetsch
Effect of surface broadcast and incorporated urea and liquid dairy
manure and Instinct (+/-) applied in fall (10/21/10) or spring (5/3/11) on
0 to 1’ soil NO3-N and NH4-N on 6/9/11at Arlington, WI
Time of
application
Soil
N Source
Rate*
Instinct
NO3-N
lb N/a
NH4-N
lb N/a
None
None
0
-
32
5
Fall
Urea
100
No
39 e
6b
Yes
56 de
6b
No
43 e
8b
Yes
44 de
9b
No
157 a
31 a
Yes
111 b
25 a
No
97 bc
7b
Yes
75 cd
10 b
Manure
Spring
Urea
Manure
131 (52)
100
167 (67)
* Manure total N application rate (est. 1st year available N).
All treatments (except control) were compared to each other.
11 sites in 2009 and 15 sites in 2010; Kyveryga and Blackmer, 2011
For C-S the average
manure N rate was a
170 kg of total N/ac.
About 60% of sites
received additional 30
– 60 lb N/ac, because
of wet conditions.
All manure was
injected, strip
treatments replicated
3 to 5 times.
Hierarchical statistical
analysis used to
simulate predictive
YR distributions.
Kyveryga and
Blackmer, 2011
Summary: Iowa Soybean Association
• In 2009 (normal precipitation yr) no
response to Instinct was found, whereas in
2010 (wet year, especially in SE Iowa) the
average response was 1.9 bu/ac.
• Based on field-level simulations for
unobserved fields, about 20% of trials
would result in a profitable yield response
for 2009 conditions and 50% for 2010.
Results for Instinct™
Applications with Urea
(46-0-0)
2011 Nitrogen Source by Timing Study
• Source
– AA, urea, NutriSphere-N™ treated urea
• Time of N application
– Fall and preplant
• Nitrification inhibitors
– N-Serve™ and Instinct™
• Applied at 100 lb N/ac for corn after
soybean
2011 Nitrogen Source by Timing Study
Parameter effect
Grain
yield
Grain
[N]
N
removal
bu/A
%
%
Source
Urea
Urea + Instinct™
NSN urea
AA
AA + N-Serve™
188
187
190
189
190
Timing
Fall
Spring preplant
188 a
190 a
Interactions (P > F)
Source×timing
0.890
a
a
a
a
a
1.08
1.10
1.07
1.07
1.10
a
a
a
a
a
1.07 b
1.10 a
0.556
47.0
47.8
46.9
47.2
49.8
a
a
a
a
a
45.7 a
49.8 b
0.813
R1 leaf
chlorophyll
%
95.0
97.7
95.3
95.5
96.6
b
a
b
b
ab
94.8 b
97.3 a
0.042
2011 Nitrogen Source by Timing Study
• Corn grain yields were not affected by N
source and time of application in this study.
– Dry Aug. and Sept. reduced yield potential
• Spring applied N increased grain N
concentration and removal and relative leaf
chlorophyll (R1) compared with fall applied N.
• R1 leaf chlorophyll was greater with
urea+Instinct than with urea, NutriSphere
coated urea and AA without N-Serve.
Soil NO3-N on June 20 (V6), 2011 as affected
by time of nitrogen application and source.
0-1 ft
1-2 ft
80
60
40
20
N
Ze
ro
er
e
ph
Sp
rN
ut
riS
+I
n
st
in
ct
re
a
rU
re
a
Sp
Sp
he
riS
p
N
ut
ll
rU
re
ct
tin
ns
Fa
Fa
ll
U
re
a
+I
ll
U
re
a
0
Fa
Soil Nitrate-N, lb N ac
-1
100
N Time of Application and Source
Research Summary
• When added to UAN, Instinct increased corn
yields in 1 of 5 studies at Waseca.
• Adding Instinct to fall-applied swine manure
increased corn yields 10-12 bu/ac in MN.
• About 20% and 50% of Iowa manure trials
resulted in profitable yield responses under
2009 and 2010 conditions, respectively.
• Urea+Instinct did not affect corn yields,
however Instinct increased R1 leaf chlorophyll
compared with untreated urea at Waseca.
Questions
Jeffrey Vetsch
jvetsch@umn.edu
http://sroc.cfans.umn.edu/
http://sroc.cfans.umn.edu/People/Staff/JeffreyVetsch/index.htm
507-837-5654
Univ. of Minnesota
Southern Research and Outreach Center