MaxFacts

Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers are the most effective way to maximize nitrogen below ground. It takes at least 15 to 20 times the rate of dicyandiamide (DCD) to be as effective as the standard rate of nitrapyrin.¹

Currently, most DCD manufacturers don’t always reveal how much DCD active ingredient is present in current formulations, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the customer to truly know how much they are applying.

• DCD is water-soluble and can leach away with the first significant rainfall event, in contrast to nitrapyrin, which remains in the root zone, continually protecting your nitrogen from losses.²
• Nitrapyrin is superior to DCD as a nitrification inhibitor, delaying nitrification longer and, once nitrification begins, maintaining a slower nitrification rate.³

¹Watanabe, T. 2006. Influence of 2-chloro-6 (trichloromethyl) pyridine and dicyandiamide on nitrous oxide emission under different soil conditions. Soil Sci Plant Nutr. 52: 226–232.

²McCarty, G. W., and J. M. Bremner. 1989. Laboratory evaluation of dicyandiamide as a soil nitrification inhibitor. Comm Soil Sci Plan. 20: 2049–2065.

³Bronson, K. F., J. T. Touchton, and R. D. Hauck. 1989. Decomposition rate of dicyandiamide and nitrification inhibition. Comm Soil Sci Plant Anal. 20: 2067–2078.

Adding excess nitrogen doesn’t mean an increase in yield or profit. Keeping the nitrogen in place longer with Instinct^® or N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizer maximizes each nitrogen application, reducing the loss of nitrates into groundwater and producing maximum profit come harvest.

Manure is becoming an increasingly important fertilizer type across Midwestern corn fields in both fall and spring. But just like other nitrogen sources, it’s susceptible to loss through leaching and denitrification.

University of Minnesota research showed that adding Instinct^® nitrogen stabilizer to fall-applied swine manure increased corn grain yield 10 to 12 bu./A compared with not using Instinct, when averaged across manure applications timings. November applications of manure with Instinct resulted in similar yield as fall-applied anhydrous ammonia with N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizer.¹

¹Vetsch, J., and J. Lamb. 2011. Applying Instinct^™ as a nitrogen stabilizer for fall applied manure. http://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2011/10/applying-instinct-as-nitrogen.html?m=1

When applied with urea, Instinct^® nitrogen stabilizer can blend easily with a drying agent in a horizontal and vertical blender for simplified application. Using Instinct with urea is critical to protect nitrogen. For example, if you apply urea on May 1, corn will emerge about two weeks later. By the V10 phase, nitrogen has been in the soil for eight weeks. Without Instinct extending nitrogen availability, there isn’t much left in a stable form in the soil at the point when corn needs it. Instinct can also be applied with UAN and liquid manure. N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizer can be applied with anhydrous ammonia.

No matter the size of your farm, fertilizer is one of your largest input investments each season - and nitrogen is vital for corn growth. It’s important to not only protect this valuable input but also extend it so it’s available during critical growth stages. Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers are proven to extend nitrogen availability six to eight weeks after application.

Because Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers do more than stabilize nitrogen - they maximize it. So your crops give you the max in return. On average, Instinct and N-Serve increase revenue by $21 per acre.*

*Based on 2015 Dow AgroSciences field trials resulting in an average 7 bu./A yield increase at $3/bu.

Instinct^® nitrogen stabilizer is no more corrosive than the fertilizer applied to crops. When using recommended seals and apparatus, Instinct and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers are compatible with application equipment.

• When applied with anhydrous ammonia, N-Serve mitigates the threat of corrosion to application materials.

When applied with urea, UAN or liquid manure, Instinct is compatible with application equipment with correct label rates and when appropriate equipment is used.

Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers are registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as nitrification inhibitors.

• Instinct and N-Serve nitrogen stabilizers are in a category all to themselves. They are the only products registered with the EPA as nitrification inhibitors because they inhibit nitrification and do not affect any other organism in the soil.

A study from North Dakota State University shows the active ingredient in Instinct and N-Serve was the one product that successfully inhibited nitrification, whereas NZone and NutriSphere had no effect.

Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers do not treat the fertilizer or the soil. Instinct and N-Serve are applied with fertilizer applications because they work below ground to keep applied nitrogen in the ammonium form, which is the form less susceptible to loss and more efficient for crops to use.

Instinct and N-Serve help protect waterways.

• The active ingredient in Instinct and N-Serve, nitrapyrin, supports environmental stewardship and is proven to decrease leaching by 16 percent and increase soil nitrogen retention by 28 percent.**

As with any crop protection technology, pesticide or fertilizer, use the right rate at the right time in the right place and in the right manner. Farmers should continue to practice sound stewardship practices to keep pesticides and fertilizers on the field and away from surface waters such as reducing drift, using buffer zones, maintaining grassy filter strips, and other common conservation practices.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved N-Serve and Instinct under their legal obligation to ensure that EPA registered products when used according to label directions, provides reasonable certainty of no harm to human health without posing unreasonable risks to the environment.  These findings are not entirely unexpected and should not raise any environmental or human health concern, as they have been fully considered in EPA’s environmental modelling and risk assessments.
• The United States Geological Survey report correctly asserts that detected nitrapyrin concentrations were below the EPA toxicity levels for aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates, yet does not provide a clear view on the effects of nitrapyrin on non-target micro-organisms.

**Wolt, J. D. 2004. A meta-evaluation of nitrapyrin agronomic and environmental effectiveness with emphasis on corn production in the midwestern USA. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 69:23–41. doi:10.1023/B:FRES.0000025287.52565.99.

***Laskowski, D. A., F. C. O’Melia, J. D. Griffith, A. J. Regoli, C. R. Youngson, and C. A. I. Goring. 1975. Effect of 2-Chloro-6-(Trichloromethyl) Pyridine and its Hydrolysis Product 6-Chloropicolinic Acid on Soil Microorganisms1. J. Environ. Qual. 4:412-417. doi:10.2134/jeq1975.00472425000400030028x.

Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers are compatible with equipment for simplified application. Instinct is no more corrosive than the fertilizer applied to crops. When using recommended seals and apparatus, Instinct and N-Serve are compatible with application equipment.

• When applied with anhydrous ammonia, N-Serve mitigates the threat of corrosion to application materials.
• When applied with urea, UAN or liquid manure, Instinct is compatible with application equipment with correct label rates and when appropriate equipment is used.
• Seeing rust in screens isn’t a result of corrosion caused by N-Serve, but rather N-Serve cleaning out a tank that had rust from standing water.
• Follow the recommended best practices from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve the safety of anhydrous ammonia tanks, including:
  • Inject N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizer at the time of application rather than premixing it in with anhydrous ammonia.¹
  • Avoid pinhole leaks by ensuring welds are made only on clean, dry metal.¹

¹(USDA) U.S. Department of Transportation. 2013. Testing and Recommended Practices to Improve Nurse Tank Safety: Phase II. USDA, Washington, DC.

Instinct and N-Serve are not bactericides.¹ The active ingredient in Instinct^® and N-Serve^® nitrogen stabilizers is actually bacteriostatic, meaning that it slows, not kills, the movement of bacteria in the soil. Instinct and N-Serve inhibit nitrification, meaning they work on only one form of bacteria - Nitrosomonas bacteria - which converts ammonium nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen.

• The active ingredient in Instinct and N-Serve is shown to inhibit nitrification for up to 40 days.¹
• Nitrate nitrogen is the form most susceptible to loss into groundwater through leaching or into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas through denitrification. Slowing this conversion allows crops to use more nitrogen, reducing the amount lost into the environment.

¹Rodgers, G. A., and J. Ashworth. 1982. Bacteriostatic action of nitrification inhibitors. Can J Microbiol. 28: 1093–1100.