Subsurface agricultural drainage has allowed for enhanced agricultural production in many areas of the world including the upper Midwest, United States. However, the presence of nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate-N) in subsurface drain water is a topic of intense scrutiny. Many studies have been done looking at ways to reduce nitrate-N in tile drainage (Baker et al., 1975; Baker and Johnson, 1981; Hanway and Laflen, 1974; Kanwar et al., 1988).With the growing concern for the health of the Gulf of Mexico (Mitsch et al., 2001; Rabalais et al., 1996), there is still a need to study and recommend nitrogen management practices that have the potential to reduce nitrate-N concentrations and loss through subsurface drainage systems. One practice is to apply the appropriate amount of nitrogen and previous work has found a relationship between nitrogen application rate and drain nitrate-N concentration showing. Another commonly discussed practice is to apply nitrogen in the spring as close to the time that the corn crop needs nitrogen as possible. The objectives of this study were to evaluate timing and rate of nitrogen application on nitrate-N leaching and crop yield.