Corn Farm in Jatai, Brazil Uses Stenon Real-Time Soil Analysis to Cut Nitrogen 20% and Raise Yield 8% in a Side-by-Side Trial

Maristela Storti grows corn in Jatai, Goias, in Brazil. Agrex, a sustainability-focused agribusiness partner, introduced her to Stenon, a German company that makes FarmLab, a device for real-time digital soil analysis. Stenon's market development manager Thiago Mendonca explained the problem the trial addressed: "Over-fertilization doesn't guarantee better results. Applying the same rate everywhere can actually limit yield potential, oversupplying some areas while undersupplying others." Fixed high doses of ammonium sulfate are often used as a safety net for yield, and nitrogen the plants do not absorb can leach into water or escape as nitrous oxide. The study was a side-by-side field trial comparing the farmer's traditional fertilisation with Stenon's data-driven recommendations. The field was planted on February 13 with the Pioneer 3898 hybrid, and on February 25 both fields received a 15-15-15 base fertiliser at 400 kg/ha. Most field work used John Deere machinery, including a JD 8400 R tractor, a Hercules 6.0 fertiliser spreader and a JD S670 combine for harvesting and yield data. Real-time soil analysis with the Stenon FarmLab found a low-nitrogen zone, later traced to soil compaction from a former road. The Stenon WebApp visualised nutrient distribution across the field and generated recommendations for the second nitrogen application, which applied 320 kg/ha of ammonium sulfate instead of the standard 400 kg/ha. The Stenon-guided field yielded 7.98% more than the traditional approach while using 20% less nitrogen in the second application. Stenon calculates an extra profit of US$163.61 (R$901.50) per hectare, a 17-fold return on the trial field, and estimates that the lower nitrogen use avoids about 0.14 tonnes of CO2e per hectare, a climate value of nearly US$8 per hectare. Applying the same strategy across the farm's 2,800 hectares of corn would, by Stenon's projection, raise profitability by more than US$347,673. The figures come from Stenon's own case study.