• Considers the impact of nitrogen overuse on crop yield, grain quality and profit
• Discusses recent advances in understanding nitrogen cycling in soil
• Highlights the need to develop more efficient varieties of wheat with improved traits related to nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilisation

John Angus graduated B. Agr. Sc. and PhD from the University of Melbourne. He worked as a Research Scientist at CSIRO Canberra from 1973 until 2010, with visiting scientist positions at the International Rice Research Institute and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science along the way. After retirement he remains an honorary fellow at CSIRO and is also an adjunct professor at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. He is a fellow of the Australian and American Societies of Agronomy and has served as President of the Agronomy Australia. He was the 2006 recipient of the Australian Medal of Agricultural Science and the 2019 recipient of the Colin Donald medal of Agronomy Australia.