Nutrient management is quintessential for U.S. grain producers to maintain a competitive advantage in the world market place and at the same time a quality environment. Over the last 19 years, average annual Illinois corn prices have varied considerably, averaging $2.44 per bushel. Unfortunately, prices the last 3 years have been tending down (Fig.1) and based on the world grain supply, there is little hope that they will improve in the near future. The price paid for ammonia by U.S. farmers has also tended down over the last 3 years, but there are strong indications that it will make a dramatic upturn in the spring of 2001. The data given in figure 1 for the crop year 2001 are not forecasts, but they could be reality. If so, nitrogen management will be even more crucial than it has been in the past.