Kansas State University’s Dorivar Ruiz Diaz said Kansas crops require substantial nitrogen to produce at high levels, noting that good-yielding corn can need roughly 180 to over 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre. He also explained that nitrate is mobile in the ground, so decades of farming and irrigation can move those nutrients underground. Experts point to factors such as nutrient leaching from irrigated fields and additional manure applied in parts of western and central Kansas feedlots as contributors to nitrate levels in groundwater.
Nelson, a Kansas State University soil fertility professor, said checking nitrate levels can help financially by lowering fertilizer bills while also reducing nitrogen leaching over time. The report also links higher fertilizer demand costs to a sharp rise in nitrogen fertilizer prices, citing USDA Agricultural Marketing Service figures that show anhydrous ammonia rising from an average of $828 per ton before the conflict to $1,123 per ton by this spring.
Even with potential cost-saving uses, the article notes experts warn nitrate-laden groundwater may pose health impacts for people who drink from it, making well testing an important step.