The NUE program helps producers use nitrogen fertilizer efficiently by accounting for nitrogen already available in the field. This may include nitrogen from soil organic matter, residual soil nitrogen, or previous crops such as alfalfa or soybeans. The goal is to avoid applying more nitrogen than the crop needs. For example, if a field has 120 pounds of available nitrogen per acre and an expected corn yield of 200 bushels per acre, the producer will apply no more than 80 additional pounds of nitrogen per acre to meet the program’s nitrogen use efficiency target of 1.0.