NASS Highlights 2016 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey - Corn

NASS Highlights

•

May 2017

No. 2017-2

2016 AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL USE SURVEY

AGRICULTURAL
Corn
CHEMICAL
USE
19 states . . .

The 2016 Agricultural Chemical Use Survey of corn producers collected data
about fertilizer and pesticide use as well as pest management practices
in growing corn. NASS conducted the survey in 19 states that together
accounted for 92 percent of the 94 million acres planted to corn in the United
States in 2016: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North
Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin (Fig. 1).

AGRICULTURAL
CHEMICAL USE

. . . accounted for 92 percent
of U.S. acres planted to corn
in 2016.

About the Survey
The Agricultural Chemical Use
Program of USDA’s National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
is the federal government’s official
source of statistics about on-farm and
post-harvest commercial fertilizer and
pesticide use and pest management
practices. NASS conducts field crop
agricultural chemical use surveys
as part of the Agricultural Resource
Management Survey. NASS conducted
the corn chemical use survey in fall
2016.

Access the Data
Access corn chemical use data
through the Quick Stats 2.0 database
(quickstats.nass.usda.gov).
•
•
•
•
•

In Program, select “Survey”
In Sector, select “Environmental”
In Group, select “Field Crops”
In Commodity, select “Corn”
Select your category, data item,
geographic level, and year

For pre-defined Quick Stats queries,
go to bit.ly/AgChem and click “Data
Tables” under the 2016 Corn and
Potatoes heading. For methodology
information, click “Methodology.”

Data are for the 2016
crop year, which
includes the one-year
period beginning after
the 2015 harvest and
ending after the 2016
harvest.

Fig. 1. States in the 2016 Corn Chemical Use Survey

Fertilizer Use
Fertilizer refers to a soil-enriching input that contains one or more plant
nutrients. For the 2016 crop year, farmers applied nitrogen to 97 percent
of planted acres, at an average rate of 145 pounds per acre, for a total
of 12 billion pounds. They applied phosphate to 79 percent of corn planted
acres, potash to
Table 1. Fertilizer Applied to Corn Planted Acres, 2016 Crop Year
65 percent, and
% of
Avg. Rate
Total
sulfur to
Planted
for Year
Applied
33 percent.
Acres
(lbs/acre)
(bil lbs)
(Table 1)
Nitrogen (N)

97

145

12.2

Phosphate (P2O5)

79

61

4.2

Potash (K2O)

65

80

4.5

Sulfur (S)

33

16

0.5

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.nass.usda.gov

Pesticide Use
The pesticide active ingredients used on corn are
classified as herbicides (targeting weeds), insecticides
(targeting insects), fungicides (targeting fungal disease),
or other chemicals (targeting all other pests and other
materials, including extraneous crop foliage). Herbicides
were applied to 97 percent of planted acres. Insecticides
and fungicides were each applied to 12 percent of
planted acres. (Fig. 2)
Among herbicides, atrazine was the most widely used
active ingredient (applied to 60 percent of planted
acres) (Table 2). It was also the most widely applied
ingredient in the 2014 survey of corn producers.
Fig. 2. Pesticides Applied to Corn Planted Acres, 2016 Crop Year
(% of planted acres)
Herbicide

97

Insecticide

12

Fungicide

12

Other

The most widely used monitoring practice in growing
corn was scouting for weeds, used on 90 percent of
corn planted acres. The top avoidance practice was
crop rotation (79 percent). (Table 3) In each category,
the most widely used practice in 2016 was also the top
practice in the 2014 survey.
Table 3. Top Practice in Category, 2016 Crop Year
(% of corn planted acres)
Monitoring: Scouted for weeds (deliberately, or by general
observations while performing tasks)

90

Avoidance: Rotated crops during last three years

79

Prevention: Used no-till or minimum till

64

Suppression: Maintained ground covers, mulches, or other
physical barriers

38

1

Surveyed States: Acres of Corn Planted, 2016

Table 2. Top Herbicides Applied to Corn Planted Acres,
2016 Crop Year
Active
Ingredient
Atrazine

U.S. Total

% of
Planted
Acres

Avg. Rate
for Year
(lbs/acre)

Total
Applied
(mil lbs)

60

1.082

56.0
a

37.6 a

Glyphosate potassium salt

33

1.323

Glyphosate isopropylamine salt

32

1.011 a

28.5 a

Acetochlor

31

1.370

36.6

a

• Avoidance practices use cultural measures to
mitigate or eliminate detrimental effects of pests.
• Monitoring practices observe or detect pests by
sampling, counting, or other forms of scouting.
• Suppression practices involve controlling or reducing
existing pest populations to mitigate crop damage.

Expressed in acid equivalent.

Pest Management Practices
The survey asked growers to report on the practices
they used to manage pests, which the survey
identifies as weeds, insects, and diseases. Corn
growers reported practices in four categories:
• Prevention practices involve actions to keep a pest
population from infesting a crop or field.

Iowa
Illinois
Nebraska
Minnesota
Indiana
South Dakota
Kansas
Wisconsin
Missouri
Ohio
North Dakota
Texas
Michigan
Kentucky
Pennsylvania
Colorado
New York
North Carolina
Georgia
Total, Surveyed States

millions of acres
94.0

% of U.S.
100

13.9
11.6
9.9
8.5
5.6
5.6
5.1
4.1
3.7
3.6
3.5
2.9
2.4
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.1
1.0
0.4
86.9

14.8
12.3
10.5
9.0
6.0
6.0
5.4
4.3
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.1
2.6
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.2
1.1
0.4
92.4

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
www.nass.usda.gov