Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

2006 MINUTES: The minutes were approved. ADMINISTRATIVE ADVISORS REPORT: G. Lemme discussed recent developments in the funding of agricultural research, including the CREATE 21 proposal. He supplied the Committee with a copy of Appendix D (form SAES-422) from the web site www.wisc.edu/ncra and suggested that Committee members use this form as a guide when writing their state reports for the committees annual report. The committee accepted this suggestion. D. Olk will distribute via email a copy of this form to all Committee members. For the annual report, D. Olk will write a summary of the efforts at securing funding from the National Research Initiative (NRI), and committee members will add any further activities from each of their states. G. Lemme reminded the committee that the Minutes are due 30 days after the meeting, and the annual report is due 60 days after the meeting. UPDATE ON EXTERNAL FUNDING D. Walters reported on the Letter of Intent that the Committee submitted in December 2006 to the Soil Processes Program of NRI. The Letter was not accepted by the NRI, solely due to a typing error during encoding of reviewers recommendations. In reality, all reviewers comments were favorable, which was supposed to lead to an invitation for the Committee to submit a full proposal. STATE REPORTS: With the onset of the new 5-year research phase, Committee members have not yet begun coordinated research. Therefore State reports consisted of summaries by each Committee member of their related research and interests. This also served to introduce new members and veteran members to each other. Reports were presented by IA, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, NE, SD, WI, and USDA-ARS. PROGRESS OF PUBLICATIONS FROM PREVIOUS PROJECT PHASE: C. Laboski discussed her progress in compiling data from the committees evaluation of the Illinois Soil N Test. Most states have submitted their data, and she has analyzed them. Results are consistent across all states. Committee members offered some suggestions and expressed general satisfaction with the data set. The results will be published in a joint manuscript, to be submitted soon to Agronomy Journal. G. Randall discussed the lack of progress in developing a Best Management Practice publication for N fertilizer management in the Midwest. With renewed help from Committee members, efforts will resume to finish this publication. Solely a web-based version is planned. NEW PROJECT PLANNING: A lengthy discussion centered on the need for a balance of field and laboratory research in the new project phase, due in part to the large turnover in membership and changing interests of the members. The committee confirmed the value and appropriateness of the existing project plan which includes three primary objectives: 1. conduct fundamental work to enhance the current understanding of the role of active N and C pools in N mineralization; 2. conduct field N response trials using a common protocol, with the goal of explaining observed responses through the dynamics of active N and C fractions; and 3. quantify the variation in indigenous soil N supply observed in the field trials across the region as a function of key soil properties, including active C and N pools, climate and cropping system. The Committee expressed interest in resubmitting the NRI proposal, with several minor modifications to its current version, as a primary means of addressing objective 1, and providing resources to measure active C and N pools at the field trial sites of objectives 2 and 3. Committee members identified field activities that could begin this field season, without external funding, by adding treatments where possible to already planned field trials, as a means of addressing objectives 2 and 3. Several committee members are currently involved in common protocol trials which could be easily adapted to meet NC 1032s needs. To standardize measurement of N uptake and sample collection needed to measure active C and N pools in 2007, D. Walters will email a sampling protocol to Committee members, followed by a conference call for finalizing the protocol. D. Mengel will contact the committee members likely to conduct field trials to encourage their participation and coordinate field activities. Specific identified goals are to determine the indigenous N supply at each site as measured by an unfertilized check and to compare the efficiency of preplant N applications to sidedress N applications. Tentative plans are to use one or two hybrids, five to six N rates, and harvest of whole plants at early physiological maturity (gray layer). CSREES REPORT: None. CSREES advisor was not present.