Nitrogen fertilizer is massively over-applied globally. 1/3 less fertilizer will help with farmers paying attention to getting the best result for the lowest amount of N applied.
It will also increase interest in some better cropping practices like growing legumes as a covercrop.
So even though usage will be down, yields are unlikely to massively take a dive from less N.
The largest issue is drought/flooding and extreme temperatures. Climate change makes a farming system built upon more predictable weather insufficient.
There is a farming method called “precision agriculture” which is basically just applying the right amount of fertiliser for each location in the field, instead of the same amount over the entire field. So much less fertiliser is used. But it is more work, and requires precise knowledge of soil conditions within the field.
Nitrogen fertilizer is massively over-applied globally. 1/3 less fertilizer will help with farmers paying attention to getting the best result for the lowest amount of N applied.
It will also increase interest in some better cropping practices like growing legumes as a covercrop.
So even though usage will be down, yields are unlikely to massively take a dive from less N.
The largest issue is drought/flooding and extreme temperatures. Climate change makes a farming system built upon more predictable weather insufficient.
There is a farming method called “precision agriculture” which is basically just applying the right amount of fertiliser for each location in the field, instead of the same amount over the entire field. So much less fertiliser is used. But it is more work, and requires precise knowledge of soil conditions within the field.