0.75 Pounds of Nitrogen per Bushel: Ward Labs' Profit Target

0.75 pounds of nitrogen per bushel. That's the nitrogen-use efficiency number Nick Ward, president of Ward Laboratories, says producers should target if they want to convert fertility spending into profit rather than trophy yields.

His argument, laid out November 11, 2026, is blunt: high yield doesn't equal high profit. Every extra bushel carries an input cost, and when those inputs get increasingly expensive, more revenue doesn't leave more money in the operator's pocket.

"You can pour inputs to increase yield, but if you have depleted soil, net profits are smaller than someone who started with good fertility," Ward said. "You can out-yield, but you can't out-profit."

What changes when you manage for profit instead of yield?

Ward draws a hard line between the two management approaches. Managing yield means chasing this growing season — pushing water with the right nutrients. Managing profit is slower, more measured fertility work: adding nutrients where and when needed, not skimping, not overapplying.

The payoff compounds. A decade of modest inputs, he says, beats pouring on a lot every year.

Soil managed for profit shows specific markers on a soil report: pH in a good range — not extreme in either direction — moderate organic matter, and a solid phosphorus bank. Once soil moves outside those norms, growers start picking crops and varieties for tolerance rather than production potential.

"Once your soil is outside these norms, you start selecting specific crops and varieties for tolerance instead of the production potential of the system," Ward said.

Getting pigeon-holed into tolerant varieties is a warning sign. Managed for yield alone, an operation can slide into managing for survival.

Four routes to the 0.75 benchmark

USDA's Economic Research Service ranks nitrogen as the largest fertilizer input, and its use swings with market conditions and fertilizer costs more than any other nutrient. Ward's four paths to hitting 0.75 pound per bushel:

• Split applications. Fewer losses to volatilization and runoff, with nutrients timed to crop need. Plant tissue testing during peak growing season fine-tunes in-season rates.
• Nitrogen stabilizers. These products cut volatilization, denitrification and leaching losses, improve availability for uptake, and trim the need for excess application.
• Loss reduction through timing and pairing. Spring starter fertilizer and in-season fertigation hit the right windows; sulfur and phosphorus supply complementary nutrients for nitrogen use.
• Soil-test-based fertilization. Reports back modest rates and ensure nitrogen goes on only when needed.

Budget first, then buy

Ward's practical framework: set a crop fertility budget first, then use the soil report to decide which nutrients deliver the biggest yield impact within that budget. Many producers, he says, would run more profitably that way than by chasing efficiency without a spending ceiling.

His closing pitch targets the coffee-shop yield contest directly. Stop comparing bushels with the neighbor. The goal isn't to out-yield the operation next door — it's to out-profit your own. Operators chasing a personal best each season, he argues, build soil that needs only moderate inputs year after year.