AbstractCereal rye (Secale cereale L.; CR) is promoted as a cover crop as a practice for reducing nitrate leaching losses in the U.S. Midwest. However, early‐season nitrogen immobilization during CR decomposition may contribute to yield reductions in corn (Zea mays L.). Field trials were conducted at three sites to determine if N as a starter fertilizer could increase the plant N uptake and grain yield of corn following CR. Treatments were a two‐way factorial with two cover crop treatments (CR and no CR) and four fertilizer treatments: subsurface banded (2 by 2 inches) at planting as urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) at 0, 25, 50, and 75 lb acre–1. Treatments received the same total N within sites, with the remainder injected between rows at side‐dressing as UAN. Nitrogen uptake and yield were unaffected by the starter N × CR interaction in all sites. At one of the sites, CR significantly reduced N uptake and corn yield at the R6 stage by 16 and 4.5% relative to no CR, respectively. Corn yield was unaffected by starter N at two sites, whereas applying 50 or 75 N lb acre–1 increased yields compared with 0 and 25 N lb acre–1 at the third site. These findings suggest that starter N could increase early‐season N uptake but had an inconsistent impact on corn yields. Therefore, further investigations under different soil N conditions are needed to provide insights into how starter N rates can be adjusted to optimize corn yields within a CR system.