Annual/Termination Reports:

[03/24/2023] [09/03/2024]

Report Information

Participants

1. Sylvie Brouder (virtually) (Purdue University)
2. Francis Casey (NSDU; liaison)
3. Jason Clark (SDSU)
4. Dave Franzen (NDSU)
5. Dan Kaiser (University of Minnesota)
6. Sunjeong Park (The Ohio State University)
7. Bijesh Maharjan (University of Nebraska)
8. Antonio Mallarino (Iowa State University)
9. Andrew Margenot (University of Illinois)
10. Manjula Nathan (University of Missouri)
11. Andrew Stammer (Wisconsin)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

<p>&nbsp;The NCERA-13 committee&nbsp;recommendations and its&nbsp;publication&nbsp;'Recommended Chemical Soil Test Procedures for the North Central Region' continues to be used by most private soil and plant analysis laboratories in the region.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>The committee met February 22, 2023, and the committee organized and sponsored the Soil and Plant Analyst's Workshop February 22-23, 2023 in Coralville, IA. The workshop was attended by 40 participants, with 4 industry sponsors. The conference program is provided in the minutes included in this report.</p><br /> <p>Committee members and their colleagues continue to work to refine and improve crop nutrient recommendations based on a solid soil and plant analysis foundation. Different test methods are constantly being examined and reevaluated to their relevance to crop yield and quality prediction.</p><br /> <p>Soil health testing procedures are being compared with crop yield to determine their relationship if any. Committee members continue to communicate to farmers and the public the value of soil testing and the use of proper soil/plant analysis methods, and their interpretation. There is a continuous struggle between University nutrient recommendations and private entity recommendations, which tend to recommend greater rates than University recommendations for a variety of reasons.</p><br /> <p>Specific accomplishments are listed below:</p><br /> <p>Michigan-&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>30 extension presentations, 11 national presentations at scientific meetings, 4 videos or podcasts, and 16 extension publications regarding soil fertility.</p><br /> <p>A joint Indiana (Purdue) and Michigan (Michigan State University) sulfur publication on &ldquo;Sulfur deficiency in corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa was released and can be found at: <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/soilfertility/Files/Bulletins/Sulfur%20Deficiency%20in%20Corn,%20Soybean,%20Wheat,%20and%20Alfalfa.pdf">https://www.canr.msu.edu/soilfertility/Files/Bulletins/Sulfur%20Deficiency%20in%20Corn,%20Soybean,%20Wheat,%20and%20Alfalfa.pdf</a></p><br /> <p>A complete production guide for soft winter wheat including nutrient management strategies &ldquo;Michigan Wheat 101&rdquo; can be found at: <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/soilfertility/Files/Bulletins/Wheat-101%20MSU%202021.pdf">https://www.canr.msu.edu/soilfertility/Files/Bulletins/Wheat-101%20MSU%202021.pdf</a></p><br /> <p>Nebraska-</p><br /> <p>Nutrient recommendations for crops such as winter wheat and sugar beet have scope for revision. Correlation-calibration experiments for nitrogen management are underway to improve the nitrogen recommendation for these crops in the state. There is good support for commodity groups in this regard.</p><br /> <p>South Dakota-</p><br /> <p>10 presentations given regarding soil fertility to approximately 857 individuals.</p><br /> <p>Two extension research reports and two radio interviews regarding phosphorus and potassium response predictions</p><br /> <p>North Dakota-</p><br /> <p>&nbsp; Nitrogen recommendations for 2-row malting barley were developed, including a N calculator for use as an app and web-based. The recommendations include consideration of soil test nitrate-N from soil samples 2 feet in depth.&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Unbiased, science-based research and extension information that promotes crop production and soil fertility through university evaluations of a multitude of products and nutrient management strategies to generate needed data for grower on-farm decision making. Growers learn from university scientists and data and in turn university scientists learn the grower’s perspective, viewpoint, or strategy towards a specific product or amendment.

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Report Information

Participants

Dan Kaiser, University of Minnesota, representative
Antonio Mallarino, Iowa State University, representative
Javed Iqbal, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, representative
Manjula Nathan, University of Missouri, representative
John Jones, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, representative
Andrew Stammer (virtual), University of Wisconsin-Madison, representative
Dorivar Ruiz Diaz (virtual), Kansas State University, representative
Sunjeong Park, Ohio State University
Issac Cuchna, North Dakota State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Accomplishments

<p>Short Term Outcomes and Outputs</p><br /> <p>The committee continues to support their publication &ldquo;Recommended Soil Test Procedures for the North Central Region&rdquo; which is used by state and private soil testing labs as a methods manual for chemical tests used for soil testing in the region.</p><br /> <p>The committee met on June 5, 2024 in Bloomington, MN. The committee members outlined some of their activities and research that support the use of soil testing for making fertilizer guidelines in the region.</p><br /> <p>Illinois &ndash; Multiple research trials were established to collect data to support revisions of the Illinois Agronomy Handbook. Changes have not been made to the handbook at this time.</p><br /> <p>Iowa &ndash; Dr Mallarino started a project with Dr Ruiz-Diaz (KS) and Kaiser (MN0 to combine corn and soybean phosphorus response data to move towards consistent soil test interpretations in the region. Dr. Mallarino retired at the beginning of 2024 but updated the Iowa State University publication PM-1688 &ldquo;A General Guide for Crop Nutrient and Limestone Recommendations in Iowa&rdquo; before retirement.</p><br /> <p>Nebraska &ndash; The University recently updated the soil test and fertilizer guidelines for the state. The update has resulted in increased manure use in the state potentially saving an estimated $56 million per year with increased use of beef manure. Researchers also note that work with enhanced efficiency fertilizers have decreased N applications by 34-36 lbs per acre and potential N loss by 41-66% while maintaining yield. No current work on phosphorous or potassium was identified.</p><br /> <p>Minnesota &ndash; All fertilizer recommendations publications were updated within the last year in Minnesota. Current research is on-going regarding potassium fertilizer guidelines. A total of 7 podcasts (1000 to 1500 downloads per episode) were released specifically related to soil testing along with 8 presentations given to roughly 800 students across the state on soil testing topics.</p><br /> <p>South Dakota - Five presentations were given regarding soil fertility to approximately 525 individuals. One extension fact sheet and two radio interviews regarding nutrient management</p><br /> <p>Wisconsin &ndash; New trials are underway to evaluate current nutrient guidelines. In addition, research projects are comparing additional potassium tests such as the ammonium acetate and mehlich-3 K test to the Bray-K test which would bring the methodology used in Wisconsin for soil potassium to be similar to all other states in the region if adopted.</p><br /> <p>*Additional information is included in the attached file summarizing the minutes of the meeting held on June 5.</p><br /> <p>Activities</p><br /> <p>The committee hosted a joint soil testing workshop including the NCERA13, SERA06, and NECC1012 committees in Bloomington, MN on Jan 3-4. Presentations were given by members of the various committees outlining soil testing issues and research being conducted in the various regions. There were 40 people in attendance and were a mixture of university researchers, soil testing staff, private industry, and representatives from government agencies.</p>

Publications

<p>Slaton, N.A. A. Pearce, L. Gatiboni, D.L. Osmond, C. Bolster, J. Dhillon. B.S. Farmaha, D.E. Kaiser, A.J. Margenot, F. Miguez, A. Moore, D. Ruiz-Diaz, D. Sotomayor, J. Spackman, J. Spargo, K. Uthman, and M. Yost. 2024. Models and Sufficiency Interpretation for Estimating Critical Soil Test Values for the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool. Soil Sci. Soc. Am J. 88: 1419-1437.</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>Recommended Chemical Soil Test Procedures for the North Central Region</p><br /> <p>NCR 223 Publication [Online] https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/sb1001</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p><br /> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Impact Statements

1. The commite contineus to support the NCR 223 publication which is the methods manual used by soil testing labs in the region.
2. Committee memebers continue to provide education to stakeholders in the form of written, oral/in-person, and online materials related to the use of soil testing for making fertilizer management decisions.
3. The states represented by the NCEARA13 committee have to date contributed 1450 site-years of data to the Fertilizer Response Support Tool database (soiltestFRST.org) in support of regional and national efforts to modernize soil test reccomendations.
4. Members of the committee were co-authors on a publication related to soil testing (which is identified in the publciation section) and continue to support national acttivities such as the NRSP-11 committee.

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