Crops Fertilizers Check Roots Before Late-Season N Applications Late-season N applications can salvage corn yields when early-season N has leached or when rain has nixed N applied from earlier sidedressing applications. By Gil Gullickson Gil Gullickson Resides In: West Des Moines, Iowa Background Gil Gullickson grew up on a Langford, South Dakota, century farm that he today owns. In 2005, Gil joined Successful Farming to cover agronomy and associated topics. This expanded from magazine and website coverage to podcasts and television. Oversaw agronomy and related topic coverage for Successful Farming. This included Successful Farming magazine, Agriculture.com, and the Successful Farming TV Show and podcasts. Successful Farming's Editorial Guidelines Published on November 20, 2015 Close Just check with your roots first by digging up some with a plain-Jane, old-fashioned shovel. If adverse weather or another malady has salvaged your root system, you're wasting your money. "You have to make sure there is a root system to take in the nutrients," says Andrew Ferrel, an Indiana-based commercial agronomist for Mycogen Seeds. "Seemingly alive plants can have no roots. If the roots are damaged, a nitrogen application will do no good." Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit