There have been considerable concerns with the reduced beneficial yield response to fertilizer and the less efficient use of fertilizers with the fast growth in fertilizer consumption in China, as well as problems with low and unstable fertilizer use effectiveness in dry farmland. The paper discusses the effect of precipitation, corn stover incorporation and fertilizer management on N uptake by corn and fertilizer N use efficiency in dry farmland. The results showed that in the areas with 520 mm rainfall under the cropping system of one crop of spring corn per year, N uptake and N recovery by corn, and yields were higher at rates of 105 kg fertilizer N, 1 500 kg cattle manure and 6 000 kg corn stover incorporated per hectare. N uptake was significantly affected by precipitation during growing periods and soil moisture at sowing, fertilizer N apparent recovery varied from 58% in a rainy year to 7% in the year with a very dry soil, and the average of 7 years (1993-1999) was about 30%. The 15N tracer experiment showed that around 40% of N uptake was derived form fertilizer N and 60% from soil N. The results from 3-year 15N tracer study (1997-1999) indicated that the 1st years N recovery in grain with and without stover incorporated was about 24% and 17%, respectively, the accumulative 3-year total about 36% and 25%,the percentage of N recovery with stover incorporated increased about 11. The accumulative 3-year N loss with and without stover incorporated was about 26% and 45%, respectively, the percentage of N loss with stover decreased about 19. The studies supply information on land applications of fertilizer N and corn stover in dry farmland.