Carbon mineralization is a better predictor of maize agronomic performance than pre-sidress nitrate test and leaf chlorophyll. So it appears from a study conducted by
Steve Culman, a researcher at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station that is published online in Agronomy Journal (see
abstract). With colleagues from Michigan State University he characterizes simple, cheap measurements of labile soil organic matter that could predict the performance of maize (corn) crops and help farmers optimize their cropping systems. They found that the size of the labile fraction of soil organic matter can be an important predictor of maize agronomic performance. But the tests used up to this point to measure those pools, such as microbial biomass and particulate organic matter, were labor intensive and expensive.
Culman decided to use other measurements of the labile fractions – including nitrogen mineralization and carbon mineralization – to see what information these inexpensive tests might give them. Their results suggest that simple measures of labile organic matter can reflect long-term management and short-term seasonal changes as well as predict maize performance.
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Source: American Society of Agronomy