Use of Nitrogen Fertilizer Sources to Enhance Tolerance and Recovery of New Corn Hybrids to Excessive Soil Moisture

In the United States, losses in crop production due to drought and flooding accounted for more than 70% of the yield reductions in 2011, and the frequency of these climate extremes is increasing in farming regions (Bailey-Serres et al., 2012). Incidence of excessive rainfall events in the Midwest region has increased over 30% from 1958 to 2007 and is expected to increase more in the future, especially during the spring. In 2011 alone, a year characterized by excessive flooding, monetary losses for corn and soybean production in the Midwest were calculated to be more than $1.6 billion. However, few seed companies have been developing corn hybrids that have been identified to be tolerant to excessive soil moisture despite large areas in corn production in Missouri and the Midwest region that experience temporarily saturated soil conditions. Moreover, few studies have been conducted to determine the use of different sources and rates of nitrogen (N) fertilizer to promote increased flood tolerance and recovery in interaction with different corn hybrids.