Soils, especially those in fertilized agriculture, emit nitric oxide, which has important impacts on ozone. Most air quality models use simple parametric equations to estimate these emissions. In this study, we assess the performance of integrating a mechanistic agricultural model we have updated with improved nitrogen cycling against two parametric approaches. We use a photochemical model to assess the air pollution impacts of each soil emissions estimate and evaluate results with surface ozone monitors and satellite NO₂ data. The mechanistic model has similar or better performance than the parametric models and a more realistic representation of the seasonality of fertilizer application, including a spring rather than summertime peak. These differences change NO emissions timing, which impacts peak ozone. We quantify the source contribution of soil NO_x emissions to ozone and NO₂, showing that soil emissions are an important contributor to each pollutant in and near agricultural regions.