What Happens If a Farmer Has Too Much Nitrogen in His Crops?

Disease

• Crops that are growing in soil with excessive nitrogen will grow more and larger leaves than is typical. However, the abundance of the leaves will be a sign of the weakness of the plant. This weakness makes the plants susceptible to disease, which sometimes is apparent in deterioration of the leaves, as well as to consumption by insects. These problems ultimately can lead to the crops' early death.

Taste and Toxicity

• In fruits and vegetables that farmers are growing, too much nitrogen can have a problematic impact on the crops' taste, giving it a less than ideal flavor. The reason is the effects that nitrogen has on the amount of sugar and vitamins in a plant. In addition, this taste demonstrates the dangers of plants with too much nitrogen. Excessive nitrogen causes toxicity in some plants, making those plants poisonous to small children and some animals.

Haying Off

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, aggressive use of nitrogen in crops coupled with sufficient water supplies can lead to robust crop growth. However, if the water supply fails to keep up with the plants as they get larger and in need of more water, then the crops can begin to fall apart, dropping leaves and other parts in order to reduce the demands for water. This process, which is called haying off, leads to both a small yield of the crop and poor quality, limiting both the amount of a crop that a farmer can sell and the price the farmer can claim for it.

Runoff

• Plants that have more nitrogen than they need, such as those plants that have received excessive amounts of nitrogen-heavy fertilizer, can cause nitrate, a product of nitrogen in the soil, to leach into groundwater. This is a form of pollution and can lead to dangerous conditions in the groundwater, especially related to its use by humans. Once a water supply has been contaminated by nitrate, the recovery procedure can be costly.