ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 10 TECHNOLOGY Matt McIntosh Robots, research help farmers rethink nitrogen management Early on-farm trial results suggest some growers may be able to reduce nitrogen applications while maintaining yields and improving returns Researchers and farmers shared lessons from nitrogen-reduction trials, including promising profit results and challenges with new technology. Farmers and agronomists gathered near Walkerton in June to learn how local producer Gerard Grubb is trying to optimize nitrogen use through comparative corn trials, and potentially, small robotic applicators developed by ag-tech company Upside Robotics. Sponsored by the Ontario Soil Network, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, and Farmers for Climate Solutions, the event was an opportunity to hear what the organizations, and Upside Robotics, have found in past nitrogen-reduction field trials. The takeaway message appears to be that Ontario growers, through their own on-farm experimentation, may have a good chance of improving profitability by reducing how much nitrogen they use. A HISTORY OF RESEARCH Grubb employs a strip-till system to manage what he describes as good gravel-loam soil. Frost-seeded cover crops are an important part of his rotation, as are biosolids. Also, a repeat participant in the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) program, Grubb has long strived to improve production through on-farm research. Indeed, he says every field he operates “has had some form of research on it.” In 2026, that research includes partnerships with Upside Robotics and Farmers for Climate Solutions, a farmer-led organization developing and advocating for policies that better support the adoption of low-emission, high-resilience approaches in agriculture. With Upside Robotics, Grubb is one of 31 farmers across the province trialling small, autonomous liquid nitrogen microdosing applicators. Tanya Franklin, Upside Robotics’ vice-president of agronomy and strategic partnerships, describes the design as “a Roomba for your corn field,” with the implement travelling the length of every other corn row to dispense liquid UAN across the entire growing season. Critically, she says, that includes the post-VT development stage when the crop is prohibitively tall for conventional application systems but still requires about 40 per cent of its nitrogen needs. A second project involves Farmers for Climate Solutions’ Profit Warranty to Optimize Nitrogen Rates, a program designed to lower the financial risk of split nitrogen applications while reducing the total amount of nitrogen applied. Participants in the program sign up to plant a corn test plot with just 30 pounds of nitrogen up front, and another reduced rate postplanting. Zero-nitrogen control plots are also encouraged to help bracket yield changes from the reduced rate and the conventional rate applied to the rest of the field. Participants are provided with a $1,000 honorarium, up to $500 in agronomist service support, and, as the name Profit Warranty suggests, a warranty in case they incur profit losses compared with their standard production approach. For Grubb, the Profit Warranty program offered a good opportunity to “really see how much nitrogen we can operate with.” Two test cases have been planted in 2026: one with 30 pounds of starter fertilizer followed by just 30 pounds of sidedress fertility, and a second with 30 pounds of starter and 60 pounds of sidedress fertility.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQzODE4