Nutrient and Pesticide Management
Cropping Systems
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"Breeding And Genetics Of Legumes For Use As Forage In Sustainable Agriculture." Project Leader: J. A Mosjidis, Agronomy & Soils, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849. CRIS¹.
Summary: One of the main environmental problems that associated with agriculture is pollution of drinking water and waterways. Soil erosion is a major contributor to this pollution, consequently, its prevention is of major importance for the protection of the environment. The crops addressed in this project can reduce these problems by providing a ground cover for reduction of surface runoff during rain. The purpose is to develop new populations adapted to the Southern Region and to study basic biological and genetic aspects of the plant species under investigation. Start Date/Funding Institution: October, 2003.
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"Improving Nutrient Cycling With Perennial Crops." M.P. Russelle, Horticulture, University Of Georgia 110 Riverbend Road Athens, Georgia 30602. CRIS¹.
Summary: Objectives include improving management strategies for intensively grazed pastures, preventing degradation of surface and ground water quality, and optimizing nutrient recycling from byproducts. This research involves a combination of experiments conducted in the laboratory, greenhouse, and field, and use of computer simulation models. Naturally occurring stable isotopes and nutrient analogs will be used to follow nutrient flows, and new techniques will be developed as necessary to collect the required data to test hypotheses. The ultimate goal of this project is to improve nutrient cycling by developing new knowledge, management techniques, and analyses of outcomes for use of perennial crop species. Start Date: February 1998.
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"Evaluation of Water Quality from Alternative Cropping Systems Using a Multiple-Paired Design." Project Leader: Gregory McIssaac, Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois. Funder: Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research.
Summary: The objective of this project was to continue to monitor the concentration and movement of nitrate and other agrichemicals in the subsurface drain effluent from three cropping systems in Central Illinois. The cropping systems included an organic grain rotation, and two conventionally fertilized corn-soybean fields. This was part of a larger comparision of cropping systems that is being continued. The nitrate concentrations in drainage water from the field in organic grain production were about half as great as the concentration from the corn-soybean rotation. Similar results have been observed in other fields in Illinois and elsewhere. However, this effect will depend on the specific organic management practices employed. In some instances, high nitrate concentrations have been observed in drainage water from organic fields after a green manure crop was plowed into the soil. Citizens, agencies and farmers who are concerned about water quality, and who are interested in the potential of organic farming practices to reduce nitrate transport to surface water will benefit from the information gained in this project.
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"Crop Rotation Effects On Soil Microbial Activity, Nutrient Use Efficiency And Productivity." Project Leaders: R. Harwood, E. Paul, B. Knezek, D. Mutch, D. G. Schwab Crop & Soil Sciences Michigan State Univ East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
Summary: The research of this project is broad in scope, but is centered in the Living Field Laboratory (LFL), a seven and one-half acre, crop rotation study. A four-year corn-corn-soybean-wheat rotation is compared with continuous corn, all with and without cover crops. Each rotation crop is grown each year, totaling five crops split with cover crops, making 10 treatments in each main plot. Main plots are: organic (using compost), compost with herbicide, fertilizer with herbicides, and conventional management without cover crops. Hypotheses being tested center on the effects of increasing levels of crop diversity and in the interactions of crop diversity, with nutrient source and chemical on crop yield, nitrogen cycling and soil quality. Carbon and nitrogen mineralization potentials are being determined through laboratory incubations as indicators of soil quality. Soil nitrate levels and leaching losses are being monitored. Economic returns of the LFL and other long-term experiments are being modeled.
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"Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research." Project Leader: Ray B. Bryant. USDA-ARS-PSWMRU, CURTIN ROAD, BUILDING 3702, University Park PA 16802.
Summary: Conducts research leading to the development of land, water, plant and animal management systems, which insure the profitability and sustainability of northeastern grazing and cropping enterprises while maintaining the quality of ground and surface waters. Elucidate the interactions among the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms controlling the production of animals, pastures and crops, and the degradation of water and soil resources at the source-area, farm, and watershed scales.
Projects include:
"Optimizing Nutrient Management to Sustain Agricultural Ecosystems and Protect Water Quality." Project Leader: Andrew N. Sharpley. The research will enable best or alternative management practices to be targeted to critical source areas of the landscape for the most efficient and effective control of nutrient loss at a watershed scale, which will minimize the impacts of nutrient and pathogen losses from agricultural landscapes on receiving water resources. For details see http://pswmru.arsup.psu.edu/
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"Enhanced Integrated Nutrient Management On Dairy Farms." Project Leaders: J. M. Powell, G. A. Broderick, J. D. Grabber, D. Jackson-Smith, R. E. Muck, L. D. Satter. Dairy Forage Research Center, University Of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Start Date: September 2000.
Summary: Excessive nutrient use and subsequent pollution of lakes, streams, groundwater and air are pressing environmental challenges facing the U.S. dairy industry. The purpose of this project is to engage farmers, researchers, policy makers, extension programs and future land mangers in the development of management practices that bring dairy farms into better nutrient balance while maintaining farm productivity and profitability and protecting the environment. This project engages researchers, extension agents, producers, and policy makers in a collaborative evaluation of key factors affecting both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) flow on dairy farms, and how profitability and environmental outcomes can be enhanced. The project objectives are to (1) develop dairy diets that support high levels of milk production and produce manure that is less susceptible to environmental loss, (2) investigate how herd management and manure handling and storage affect nutrient losses, (3) evaluate the effectiveness of conventional and alternative cropping systems to provide feed and recycle manure nutrients, (4) improve capacity of policy makers, extension programs and farmers to make integrated nutrient management decisions that consider all phases of dairy operations (feeding, manure handling, cropping, etc.), and (5) provide outreach and education with our results through various forums that engage researchers, farmers, policy makers, land managers and university students in collaborative assessments of integrated nutrient management at farm, regional and national scales.
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Discovery Farms. This is a producer-driven collection of projects on working Wisconsin farms in different geographic areas, facing different environmental challenges, with a largely producer-based advisory board. The Discovery Farms Program is a partnership with cooperation from the State of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin System, Extension, agencies and several farm organizations. Cropping systems related research projects include: "Evaluate the Economic Impact of Implementing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans on Discovery Farms," and "The Impacts of Implementing a Phosphorus Index on Discovery Farms." To read more about these projects visit http://www.discoveryfarms.org/index.htm.
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Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial Project. The hub of the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST) Project is two crop rotation trials based in southern Wisconsin. Around this framework, the project has developed a wide range of projects examining on-farm biodiversity. Water quality is one focus of research and publication on farming and protecting the environment. Since 1990, for example, WICST has measured nitrate-N concentrations in the perched water table at the research site through a set of 18 shallow (12 feet) tube wells established under the plots.
Publications include:
- Monitoring Fall Nitrates in WICST 1990-1995 (1995).
- The Effect of Various Crops on Bromide Leaching to Shallow Groundwater Under Natural Rainfall Conditions (1998).
- Quantifying the Impact of Preferential Flow on Field-scale Chemical Transport Under Two Steady-state Conditions in Silt Loam Soil (2000).
- Nitrate + Nitrate-N Concentration in Groundwater at the Lakeland Agricultural Complex 1991-1998.
- Potentially Leachable Fall Nitrate in the 0-2 Foot Soil Depth at ARS and LAC (1993-2000) with Contrasts.
- Fall Nitrates in the Top 3 ft. of Soil at the Arlington Research Station in 1991-2000.
- Leaching of Agricultural Chemicals to Tile Drains on WICST Trial (2002).
- Vertical Distribution of Phosphorous in Wisconsin Cropping Systems (2002).
- Assessing Nitrogen Mineralization to Refine Nitrogen Rates for Crops to Minimize Losses (2002).
To read more about this research and results, visit the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial website at: http://www.wisc.edu/cias/wicst/research/index.htm.
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"Cropping System Effects." Project Leader: J. R. Frederick. Clemson University, Agroecology Program Research on Water Quality. Ongoing.
Summary: Clean surface and ground waters are essential to the continued rapid growth in population and tourism in the Coastal Plain. New technologies and production practices can reduce the risk of water-quality problems caused by crop production. A series of research studies have been initiated to identify ways of increasing grower profits using innovative combinations of ecologically friendly production practices. One objective has been to determine whether traditional crop production practices contribute to water-quality problems on the southeastern Coastal Plain and to quantify the level of water-quality protection that can be achieved with new cropping practices and technologies. In a split-landscape study being conducted at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center near Florence, SC, the field was split in half, with one half of the field receiving Innovative (no surface tillage) production practices and the other half Traditional (disking, cultivating, bedding (cotton only)) production practices. Use of the Innovative production system resulted in substantially less water, sediment, and nutrient runoff during rainstorm events. http://agroecology.clemson.edu/waterrunoff.htm.
General objectives for these projects include: 1. Continued development of data on crop yield enhancement, input requirements, soil quality improvements, and water quality protection resulting from the use of new cropping practices, precision farming technologies, transgenic varieties, and cropping systems that integrate the three. 2. To evaluate the effects of new weed-control systems on northern bobwhite quail habitat. 3. Determine if recently develop nematode probes can be used to determine where to precision plant nematode-resistant soybean cultivars, thereby increasing their effectiveness and economic value. 4. Educate agricultural community, students, and general public about the value and limitations of new technologies and cropping systems for improving the sustainability of Southeastern farms from both an economic and environmental standpoint.
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