NC_old1195: Enhancing nitrogen utilization in corn based cropping systems to increase yield, improve profitability and minimize environmental impacts

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Inactive/Terminating

Project Menu

SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[11/21/2018] [04/01/2019] [04/06/2020] [05/02/2021]

Date of Annual Report: 11/21/2018

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/06/2018 - 03/07/2018
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2017 - 11/30/2018

Participants

John Sawyer (Iowa State Univ.)
Will Horwath (Univ. of California-Davis)
Jeanette Norton (Utah State Univ.)
Fabian Fernandez (Univ. of Minnesota)
Marshall McDaniel (Iowa State Univ.)
Ann Russell (Iowa State Univ.)
Peter Scharf (Univ. of Missouri)
Rhae Drijber (Univ. of Nebraska)
Sindhu Jagadamma (Univ. of Tennessee)
Xiaofei Li (Univ. of Mississippi)

Brief Summary of Minutes

See attached file for NC1195's annual report.

Minutes Attachment:

NC1195 meeting_2018 Report.pdf

Accomplishments

<ul> <li>Better management of N and cover crops (discussed in extension by several members)</li> <li>Marshall McDaniel is working on the “old” 1995-1998 NC218 dataset. Goal is to talk with group about 1st draft of publication in March 2019.</li> <li>Xiaofei Li now also has NC218 data and will look into economics of the 56 site-year data.</li> </ul>

Publications

Barker, D.W., and J.E. Sawyer. 2017. Variable rate nitrogen management in corn: response in two crop rotations. J. Soil Water Conserv. 72:183-190. Barker, D., and J. Sawyer. 2017. Evaluation of nitrogen fertilizer additives for enhanced efficiency in corn on Iowa soils. Crop Forage Turfgrass Manage. Vol. 3. doi:10.2134/cfm2017.02.0010. Chu, M., Jagadamma, S., Walker, F.R., Eash, N.S., Buschermohle, M.J., and Duncan, L.A. 2017. Effect of multi-species cover crop mixture on soil properties and crop yield. Agricultural and Environmental Letters. 2:170030 Fernández, F.G., K.P. Fabrizzi, and S. Naeve. 2017. Corn and soybean’s season-long in-situ nitrogen mineralization in drained and undrainded soils. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys. 107: 33–47. Iqbal, J., M. Necpalova, S.V. Archontoulis, R.P. Anex, M. Bourguignon, D. Herzmann, D.C. Mitchel, J.E. Sawyer, Q. Zhu, and M.J. Castellano. 2017. Extreme weather-year sequences have nonadditive effects on environmental nitrogen losses. Glob. Change. Biol. doi:10.1111/gcb.13866. Kakkar, A., 2017. Nitrogen availability and use efficiency in corn treated with contrasting nitrogen sources. Plants, Soils and Climate. Utah State University, Logan, Utah USA, p. 134. Ouyang, Y., Norton, J.M., Stark, J.M., 2017. Ammonium availability and temperature control contributions of ammonia oxidizing bacteria and archaea to nitrification in an agricultural soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 113, 161-172. Kitchen, N.R., J.F. Shanahan, C.J. Ransom, C.J. Bandura, G.M. Bean, J.J. Camberato, P.R. Carter, J.D. Clark, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, Z. Qing, J.E. Sawyer, and M.Shafer. 2017. A public-industry partnership for enhancing corn nitrogen research and datasets: project description, methodology, and outcomes. Agron. J. 2371-2388. 109:2371-2388. McDaniel, M. D., Simpson, R. R., Malone, B. P., McBratney, A. B., Minasny, B., & Adams, M. A. (2017). Quantifying and predicting spatio-temporal variability of soil CH4 and N2O fluxes from a seemingly homogeneous Australian agricultural field. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 240, 182-193. Morris, T.F., T.S. Murrell, D.B. Beegle, J.J. Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, J. Grove, Q. Ketterings, P.M. Kyveryga, C.A.M. Laboski, J.M. McGrath, J.J. Meisinger, J. Melkonian, B.N. Moebius-Clune, E.D. Nafziger, D. Osmond, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, W. Smith, J.T. Spargo, H.M. van Es, and H. Yang. 2017. Strengths and limitations of nitrogen rate recommendations for corn and opportunities for improvement. Agron. J. doi:10.2134/agronj2017.02.0112. Poffenbarger, H.J., D.W. Barker, M.J. Helmers, F.E. Miguez, D.C. Olk, J.E. Sawyer, J. Six, and M.J. Castellano. 2017. Maximum soil organic carbon storage in Midwest U.S. cropping systems when crops are optimally nitrogen-fertilized. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0172293. Sawyer, J.E., K.P. Woli, D.W. Barker, and J.L. Pantoja. 2017. Stover removal impact on corn plant biomass, nitrogen, and use efficiency. Agron. J. 109:802-810. Sutradhar, A., D.E. Kaiser, and F.G. Fernández. 2017. Does total N/S ratio predict N or S requirement for corn? Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.81:564-577. Wade, J., S. W. Culman, T. T. Hurisso, R. O. Miller, L. Baker, W. R. Horwath. 2017. Sources of Variability that Compromise Mineralizable Carbon as a Soil Health Indicator. Soil Science Society of America Journal. doi:10.2136/sssaj2017.03.0105

Impact Statements

Many researchers had extension activities, publications and presentations that meet our following objectives. Objective 1) Gain a more thorough understanding of the influence of macro- and micro-scale ecosystems and landscape properties on soil N dynamics. Objective 2) Explore optimization of nitrogen management practices through interrogation of corn nitrogen use efficiency datasets from studies conducted across the North Central region. Objective 3) Develop nitrogen management decision-making tools for crop advisers and growers. See Accomplishments and Publications.

Date of Annual Report: 04/01/2019

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/05/2019 - 03/06/2019
Period the Report Covers: 03/07/2018 - 03/06/2019

Participants

Participants Attachment:

Minutes NC1195_190401.pdf

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

Minutes NC1195_190401.pdf

Accomplishments

Accomplishments by major objectives of the Project: 1. Gain a more thorough understanding of the influence of macro- and micro-scale ecosystems and landscape properties on soil N dynamics. Soil health tests are important for determining impacts and evaluation of management practices on soil N dynamics. Activities have focused on evaluating various tests of soil health and effects of cover crops and nitrogen-efficiency-enhancing products on soil nitrogen availability. Short-term Outcomes: (A) Two components of the Haney soil health nutrient tool (HSHT) accounted for the most variation in economic optimum N rate (EONR). Both accounted for >50% of variation in EONR for N applied. With additional research, these two components may help improve N recommendations for corn in the Midwest in comparison with the soil health score. (B) Similar to other soil measurements, mineralizable C had multiple sources of variability: spatial, temporal and analytical. This underscores the need for the development of a standardized and universally adopted protocol. The sources of variability were soil-specific and may be a substantial hurdle to its utility as a robust soil health metric. Outputs: Products in 2018 include: seven state reports (CA, IA, KY, MN, MS, NE, TN); 23 grants; 15 peer-reviewed publications; and 18 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders Please see attachments for details. Students trained included 14 graduate and 8 undergraduates. Activities: (A) Evaluated the Haney soil health nutrient tool (HSHT) for its potential in determining corn nitrogen recommendations, using research results from a study conducted at multiple sites across eight Midwest states. (B) Examined numerous sources of laboratory variability associated with mineralizable C, with the overall goal of understanding the influence of each source variability to determine whether this test is robust enough for adoption by the soil test industry. The analysis included soil from eight studies on 72 agricultural cropland sites from across the United States, using permutations of soil processing and rewetting protocols (n = 1142 individual observations) to determine the sources of variation associated with these procedures. (C) Numerous other studies, e.g., use of cover crops and use of spatial statistics for optimizing N fertilizer use. 2. Explore optimization of nitrogen management practices through interrogation of corn nitrogen use efficiency datasets from studies conducted across the North Central region. Soil N tests are key to optimizing yields, while also preventing over application of fertilizer N. Some field sites, for example, show no yield response to fertilizer N addition but still have high yields. A test that predicts when a site will respond to N fertilizer, but has high yields, is crucial to understanding what factors contribute to these high-yielding sites and how N application can be reduced based on that knowledge. Short-term Outcomes: A combination of two soil N tests, 14-d aerobic incubation and tetraphenyl borate extraction, best predicted AONR. Outputs: The combination of the two above tests shows potential for reducing and optimizing N fertilizer rates, which would reduce the cost of N fertilizer for farmers and reduce reactive N pollution. Activities: A large data set with 56 site-years of N response trials from the North Central region (dataset from NC1195 committee) was analyzed for N response and factors that may predict response.   3. Develop nitrogen management decision-making tools for crop advisers and growers. Activities are focused on 1) improving the ability to forecast N rate requirements in Iowa and 2) engaging the general public, growers, and crop advisers in learning about N cycling in Iowa agricultural systems and N reduction strategies. Short-term Outcomes: The Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator web site (<a href="http://cnrc.agron.iastate.edu/">http://cnrc.agron.iastate.edu/</a>) had 103,084 page views and 12,523 unique visitors in 2018. Since its inception in May 2018, the website for Nitrogen Model for Iowa Agricultural Systems (<a href="https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/nmodel/">https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/nmodel/</a>) has received nearly 150 unique visitors. This website is also used in teaching about the N cycle for students in Introductory Ecology at Iowa State. Outputs: Products include one journal article and one is in review. The online Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator N response database was updated with new research data for corn following soybean and continuous corn. One new website is available to the public. Activities: 1) Corn yield results from a long-term N rate by rotation research site near Ames were used to investigate the potential for the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model to improve or supplement current N rate recommendations. 2) A website was created that provides access to and instructions for a user-friendly, process-based simulation model for the general public. The topic: N cycling in Iowa agricultural systems.   Milestones: 1) Complete research on soil N testing and N response across diverse soils, the residual effects of long-term N application on soil N supply and crop yield response in corn cropping systems, and N rate and tillage effect on corn yield by September 2020. 2) Submit publications by March 2020. 3) Disseminate the research outcomes to peers, producers and other stakeholders in 2019-2020.

Publications

Impact Statements

Presentations at conferences and meetings, 18 in 2018, disseminated research results to professional societies, commodity groups and stakeholders.

Date of Annual Report: 04/06/2020

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/03/2020 - 03/04/2020
Period the Report Covers: 03/07/2019 - 03/06/2020

Participants

Castellano, Michael (castelmj@iastate.edu) – Iowa State Univ.; Dobrowolski, James (james.dobrowolski@usda.gov) – NIFA Program Manager; Jagadamma, Sindhu (sjagada1@utk.edu) – Univ. of Tennessee; Laboski, Carrie (laboski@wisc.edu) – Univ. of Wisconsin; Lamkey, Kendall (krlamkey@iastate.edu) – Iowa State Univ.; Li, Xiaofei (xiaofei.li@msstate.edu) – Mississippi State Univ.; McDaniel, Marshall (marsh@iastate.edu) – Iowa State Univ.; Norton, Jeanette (jeanette.norton@usu.edu) – Utah State Univ.; Poffenbarger, Hanna (hanna.poffenbarger@uky.edu) – Univ. of Kentucky; Russell, Ann (arussell@iastate.edu) – Iowa State Univ.; Sawyer, John (jsawyer@iastate.edu) – Iowa State Univ.; Scharf, Peter (ScharfP@missouri.edu) – Univ. of Missouri; Horwath, William (wrhorwath@ucdavis.edu) – Univ. of California-Davis.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

NC1195_2020_Meeting Minutes.docx

Accomplishments

Accomplishments by major objectives of the Project: Objective 1. Gain a more thorough understanding of the influence of macro- and micro-scale ecosystems and landscape properties on soil N dynamics. Activities have focused on linking soil N dynamics with soil health building practices such as reduced tillage, cover crops, application of organic amendments, improved tile-drainage systems, etc. Short-term Outcomes: (A) Glycerin, a byproduct from biodiesel company, showed promise in increasing N use efficiency. When applied to soil, it decreased soil nitrate content and increased N uptake by soil microbes. (B) Biochar, a co-product from pyrolytic conversion of biomass to biofuel, showed promise in increasing N use efficiency when co-applied with synthetic N fertilizer, and the effect varied with types of biochar and the method of application of biochar and synthetic N fertilizer in soil, (C) developed N management guidelines for incorporation of organic soil amendment inputs with fertilizer N, (D) long-term no-tillage management of corn increased N mineralization, but has minor effect on agronomic optimum N rate. Outputs: Products in 2019 include: 24 grants, 17 peer-reviewed publications, and 35 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Please see attachment for details. Multiple graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdocs were trained by project participants. Activities: (A) Evaluated the usefulness of organic amendments such as glycerin, biochar, and organic food waste in improving N use efficiency, (B) initiated a research in Iowa on modifying the depth and spacing of sub-surface drainage system to reduce the loss of soil organic C and soil N through drainage, (C) analyzed if long-term tillage can reduce N application rate for corn. Objective 2. Explore optimization of nitrogen management practices through interrogation of corn nitrogen use efficiency datasets from studies conducted across the North Central region. Soil N tests are key to achieving efficient use of fertilizers that increase crop productivity while prevent over-application of fertilizer N. However, most soil N tests have limited accuracy in predicting N fertilizer needs for crops. So, 30 soil tests were compared across 56 site-years in the US Midwest. Short-term Outcomes: A combination of two soil N tests, 14-d aerobic incubation and 5-min tetraphenyl borate extraction best predicted non-responsive sites in 56 site-years in the Midwest compared to the commonly used pre-side-dress nitrate test, and on average decreased over-application by 40% and under-application by 37%. Outputs: Products in 2019 include: 10 grants, 3 peer-reviewed publications, and 06 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Please see attachment for details. Committee members collaboratively published a peer-reviewed publication on the responsiveness of soil N tests (McDaniel et al., Agronomy Journal,                   <a href="DOI:%20org/10.1002/agj2.20129">DOI: org/10.1002/agj2.20129</a>), <a href="https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2020/03/09/nitrogensoiltest">https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2020/03/09/nitrogensoiltest</a>). Multiple graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdocs were trained by project participants. Activities: A large data set with 56 site-years of N response trials from the North Central region (dataset from NC1195 committee) was analyzed for N response of N soil tests and factors that may predict N response. Objective 3. Develop nitrogen management decision-making tools for crop advisers and growers. Efforts under this objective included improving the ability to forecast N rate requirements in Iowa and engaging the general public, growers, and crop advisers in learning about N cycling in Iowa agricultural systems and N reduction strategies. Short-term Outcomes: Existing N management tools such as maximum return to N rate guidelines in conjunction with preplant or pre-side-dress nitrate tests and manure crediting resulted in adjusting N fertilizer rates that improved profitability of corn production and in many cases reduced N fertilizer application rates. Outputs: Products in 2019 include: 6 grants, 5 peer-reviewed publications, and 7 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Numerous farmers, agronomists, and conservation professionals were educated about N decision making tools at county/regional extension meetings, field days, and conferences. Activities: On-farm participatory research trials were conducted at 15 locations in Iowa to evaluate management tools and practices that can be considered adaptive techniques for corn N management. Milestones: <ul> <li>Complete on-going research on soil N testing and N response across diverse soils and diverse management practices, the residual effects of long-term N application on soil N supply and crop yield response in corn cropping systems, N rate and tillage effect on corn yield, and organic amendment effect on N use efficiency by September 2020.</li> <li>Submit peer-reviewed and extension publications by March 2021.</li> <li>Disseminate the research outcomes to peers, producers and other stakeholders in 2020-2021.</li> <li>Train undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs.</li> <li>Prepare and submit grant proposals to advance the science in the coming years.</li> </ul>

Publications

Impact Statements

• 48 presentations were given at conferences and meetings in 2019, which disseminated research results to professional societies, commodity groups, and stakeholders.

Date of Annual Report: 05/02/2021

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/02/2021 - 03/03/2021
Period the Report Covers: 03/07/2020 - 03/02/2021

Participants

Participants Attachment:

NC1195_2021_Meeting Minutes.docx

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

NC1195_2021_Meeting Minutes.docx

Accomplishments

Accomplishments by major objectives of the Project: Objective 1. Gain a more thorough understanding of the influence of macro- and micro-scale ecosystems and landscape properties on soil N dynamics. Activities have conducted on linking soil N dynamics with soil health and N cycling, such as timing of N application, mineralization, reduced tillage, cover crops, organic amendments, improved tile-drainage systems, microbial community, etc. Short-term Outcomes: (A) Management of crop residues via tillage or stover removal were found to impact soil quality in Nebraska trials. Corn residue removal led to declined soil microbial biomass and nutrient cycling. (B) Two Tennessee trials were established to determine the best cover cropping to reduce N fertilization. (C) On-farm research conducted in Kentucky showed how landscape and cover crops impacted corn production. Outputs: Products in 2020 include: 20 grants, 13 peer-reviewed publications, and 15 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Please see attachment for details. Multiple graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdocs were trained by project participants. Activities: (A) Assessed the effectiveness of various soil nitrogen mineralization tests in predicting corn nitrogen needs. (B) Evaluated the effects of cover crops on corn yield and soil N cycling. (C) Tested how the biochar and N fertilizer interaction affects soil N dynamics.   Objective 2. Explore optimization of nitrogen management practices through interrogation of corn nitrogen use efficiency datasets from studies conducted across the North Central region. Optimizing N management is a most important goal of corn N research. Compiling large corn N trial data set across the North Central region has been a major effort of this project. How various environmental and management factors impact the corn N use efficiency under different conditions are being analyzed. Short-term Outcomes: (A) An ongoing work from the long-term crop rotation field experiment with varying rates of N fertilization under rainfed, no-till maize found several key findings of how optimal N rate is affected by residue and crop rotation. (B) Weather and soil in the US Midwest influence the effectiveness of nitrogen applications in corn production. (C) The four-day soil respiration was found to be related to corn nitrogen fertilizer needs across 49 US Midwest fields. Outputs: Products in 2020 include: 12 grants, 5 peer-reviewed publications, and 13 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Please see attachment for details. Multiple graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdocs were trained by project participants. Activities: (A) Evaluate soil respiration to corn nitrogen fertilizer needs across 49 US Midwest fields. (B) An effort to build a large corn N response trial database covering multiple locations and years for the North Central region.   Objective 3. Develop nitrogen management decision-making tools for crop advisers and growers. Efforts under this objective included improving the ability to forecast N rate requirements by various soil tests, sensors, and satellite imagery data. The economic performances of the N recommendation tools were also evaluated. Short-term Outcomes: (A) Predicted early season nitrogen uptake using high resolution aerial hyperspectral imagery. (B) Developed the ground-based optical canopy sensing technologies for corn-nitrogen management in the upper Midwest. (C) Evaluated various corn N rate recommendation tools’ performance across eight U.S. Midwest Corn Belt states. Outputs: Products in 2020 include: 9 grants, 6 peer-reviewed publications, and 5 presentations at professional meetings and meetings for commodity groups, producers and stakeholders. Numerous farmers, agronomists, and conservation professionals were educated about N decision making tools at county/regional extension meetings, field days, and conferences. Activities: Different soil tests, sensors, and other technologies were being developed and assessed in their performances of predicting corn N needs and optimal N rates. The economic returns of those methods were also being evaluated. Milestones: <ul> <li>Establish and collect trial data on N cycling, soil microbial, cover crop biomass, cover crop mineralization, and nutrient release during the growing season.</li> <li>Submit peer-reviewed and extension publications</li> <li>Disseminate the research outcomes to peers, producers and other stakeholders.</li> <li>Train undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs.</li> <li>Prepare and submit grant proposals to advance the science in the coming years.</li> </ul>

Publications

Impact Statements

28 presentations were given at conferences and meetings in 2020, which disseminated research results to professional societies, commodity groups, and stakeholders.