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Precise Inputs for a Cleaner Environment
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Technician Jeff Nichols collects
a
water sample from the Walnut
Creek watershed in Ames, Iowa.
Samples
are collected weekly
from this area and surrounding
watersheds to
study the
effects farming practices
have on water quality.
(K8721-3) |
When the sandhill cranes pass over the Platte River Valley in
Nebraska this spring on their annual flight north, they'll fly over a cleaner
environment.
A decade has passed since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began
a major clean water effort in the Corn Belt from the Platte River to the Des
Moines River to the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes.
In 1990, USDA began five comprehensive research and demonstration
projects to evaluate and develop farming methods that safeguard water
resources. Known as the Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEA), the sites
are in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Ohio, and
Wisconsin. MSEA, led by USDA's Agricultural
Research Service; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service; and university colleagues, involves close cooperation with federal,
state, and local agencies.
MSEA's cornerstone is the close integration of research and
education activities. This water quality program merged in 1996 with a broader
USDA program called ASEQ, for Agricultural Systems for Environmental Quality.
With this merger, the joint program expanded to Mississippi and North Carolina.
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Soil scientist Jim Schepers
measures
canopy reflectance
from several plants using
real-time sensors being
developed for mobile applications.
Selected colors monitored by
this inexpensive sensor are
compared with more extensive
data
collected by costly
spectroradiometers.
(K8701-1) |
The work initially emphasized reducing the amount of
pesticides reaching groundwater, says Dale A. Bucks, ARS national program
leader for water quality management. But the emphasis soon expanded to include
nitrates in surface water and groundwater and pesticides in surface water.
"Now the program also emphasizes phosphorus and collects data
on air quality, soil management, off-site impacts, and newer farm practices,"
Bucks says.
Pesticide levels in groundwaters were far less than
originally anticipated. Iowa results were typical: The common herbicide
atrazine showed up in well water at levels above the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's standard for drinking water only once in 8 years of
intensive sampling. Bucks warns, however, that more research is needed on newer
pesticides and other synthetic chemicals, such as hormones and antibiotics, in
runoff from fields, farms, and watersheds.
Why the emphasis on nutrients? Because they have generally
been a problem at the study areas, Bucks says. Annual "dead zones" off the Gulf
Coast and fish kills from Pfiesteriaon the East Coast also pushed
nitrogen and phosphorus into the limelight. These nutrients can feed harmful
algal blooms associated with these problems.
The Midwest part of the joint program is still going strong,
changing the landscape of American farming, often far beyond the Corn Belt.
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Mounted on a high-clearance sprayer, crop
canopy sensors monitor plant greenness, which is translated into a signal
by an
onboard computer that controls the application rate of nitrogen
fertilizer
to the soil.
(K8696-19) |
In
Nebraska—Groundwater Quality Is Improving
James S. Schepers, an ARS soil nitrogen expert at Lincoln,
Nebraska, says that groundwater in the Platte River Valley has less nitrate and
pesticides in it today because of the program. Nitrate-nitrogen levels in the
groundwater have been reduced from 30 parts per million (ppm) to 10 to 15 ppm.
EPA's standards for drinking water call for a maximum of 10 ppm.
"The techniques that led to these reductions are being
adopted across the country," says Schepers. "Basically, they center on the
burgeoning field of precision agriculture and split applications of nitrogen
fertilizer." Schepers serves on a committee promoting solutions like this
nationwide.
Farmers traditionally apply nitrogen fertilizer in the fall
based on the results of a soil test. They often add "insurance fertilizer," the
rate of which is based on a guess about how much more fertilizer might be
needed by spring planting time. Fertilizer has been cheap enough that farmers
would rather overapply it than risk having an anemic corn crop, says Schepers.
The Midwest program came up with an alternative: Apply
nitrogen in two or more applications—beginning with a starter dose in
spring—and monitor for nitrogen deficiency before applying more.
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Spectroradiometers can be
used to
measure and record
the spectral signature
of reflectance from an
individual leaf. Here, technician
Jim Tringe uses the device to
identify special wave bands or
colors unique to a given crop
stress,
such as nitrogen deficiency.
(K8700-1) |
The Nebraska scientists
developed several ways to monitor, including the use of a portable chlorophyll
meter to instantly test plants for nitrogen deficiency. Farmers could combine
the meter with a special soil test at planting time and another when the corn
is 18 inches tall.
Applications Become More Precise
MSEA scientists have documented that crop yields and nitrogen
needs within a field vary tremendously. So one of their main priorities was to
develop equipment that can apply nitrogen at a variable rate.
The Nebraska scientists designed sensors to pinpoint nitrogen
needs based on sunlight reflected from crop leaves. Mounted on a high-clearance
sprayer, the sensors look like small headlights. One stares skyward so it can
measure daylight intensity. Another points toward the plants and measures light
reflected from the crop to detect how much nitrogen the plants have in their
leaves. Farmers can drive though the cornfield—no matter how tall the crop
is—and automatically add nitrogen where needed.
ARS scientists in Nebraska developed the sensors through a
cooperative research and development agreement with a private company. Now they
are working on second-generation sensors, says Schepers. Similar reflectance
techniques are being tested on airplanes and satellites.
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Andrew Pond uses an iron
oxide test
strip to measure
the amount of phosphorus
present in a runoff
sample.
(K8697-1) |
Variable-rate equipment is
key to the precision agriculture revolution currently brewing in the
agricultural equipment industry, fueled in part by the program for water and
environmental quality.
In precision agriculture, farmers apply only the type and
amount of inputs—water, pesticides, or fertilizer—that plants need
for optimal yields. To do this, they rely on sensors that collect data on plant
and soil conditions as the tractor moves across the field. GPS (Global
Positioning System) receivers locate the tractor in the field, and computers
onboard the tractor calculate the best possible yield and the soil's capacity
to hold chemicals. The results of the calculations are used by the computer to
adjust the application rate of each chemical as the tractor moves along. The
onboard computers can also use data from stored maps or aerial photographs
instead of sensor data.
But Schepers says the first line of defense against nitrate
leaching is wisely managing irrigation and drainage water. "It's excess water
that carries nitrate to groundwater," he says.
Excess phosphorus from animal manure applied as fertilizer
can also be a water quality concern. So ARS soil scientist Brian J. Wienhold,
also at Lincoln, is testing manure from swine raised on a new corn variety
bioengineered to reduce phosphorus excretion. Wienhold is assessing the
potential this low-phosphorus manure has for reducing runoff losses of
phosphorus.
In Missouri—Soil Type Does
Matter
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Amy Morrow, a chemist in Ames, Iowa,
inspects the operation of the soil extraction robot that is used to remove
herbicides
from soil samples. This unit has processed soil samples
throughout the life of the MSEA program.
(K8723-2) |
As in Nebraska, scientists
working at the Missouri site rely on sensors to achieve the best use of
fertilizer nitrogen within each field. " Our tactics are different, based on
different soil conditions," says Eugene Alberts, "but the goal is the same: to
not over- or under-apply nitrogen fertilizer." Alberts leads the ARS Cropping
Systems and Water Quality Research Unit in Columbia, Missouri.
To set variable rates for nitrogen, the Missouri scientists
experimented with sensors for estimating claypan topsoil depth. These relied on
measuring the soil's electrical conductivity. The lower the conductivity, the
deeper the topsoil. As it deepens, crops are higher yielding, justifying more
nitrogen fertilizer.
"There's no sense in fertilizing for a yield of 200 bushels
of corn an acre on soil that could never yield even 100 bushels," says Alberts.
The research focuses on the claypan soil region in
north-central and northeastern Missouri. The region is representative of more
than 7 million acres of Midwest cropland. Newell R. Kitchen, an ARS soil
nitrogen management expert who works with Alberts, says, "A claypan layer
restricts roots and lowers crop yields. The claypan also causes surface runoff
that has high herbicide levels in spring and early summer."
The main study area in Missouri is the 28-square-mile
Goodwater Creek watershed, with 50- to 90-acre commercial cornfields and 1-acre
study plots. One-fourth of the wells in the watershed exceed the drinking water
standard for nitrate. Most drinking water comes from municipal reservoirs, but
people in isolated areas get their drinking water from wells.
Kitchen says, "we need to find a way to fine-tune farming
methods to avoid loading the groundwater with nitrate. Ken Sudduth, an ARS
agricultural engineer, and I are field-testing several innovative strategies
for applying nitrogen at a variable rate."
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Soil scientist Brian Wienhold
and
technician Julie Paschold
examine a runoff sample
collected from plots
on
which nitrogen and phosphorus
losses are studied. The plots
received swine manure differing
in phosphorus content.
(K8699-1) |
"Over the last 4 years, the
Missouri program has expanded to include most of the northern and some of the
central parts of the state."
In Iowa—Less Is Better
In one Iowa watershed, farmers used MSEA findings to lower
nitrogen fertilizer use by 50 pounds per acre over 20 percent of the watershed.
ARS scientists in Ames, Iowa, credit the reduction to split
nitrogen applications and a technique they developed to reduce nitrate
leaching. In the Corn Belt states—the nation's heaviest users of nitrogen
fertilizer—most nitrogen fertilizer is injected into the soil as a
pressurized gas called anhydrous ammonia. Knifelike blades cut a slot in the
soil into which the gas is dispensed through a hose alongside the blade.
The scientists at the National Soil Tilth Research
Laboratory worked with Iowa State University colleagues to install a disk
behind each "knife" to mound soil on both sides of the slit. This prevents the
slot from funneling rainwater that could carry nitrate toward groundwater.
Jerry L. Hatfield, head of the Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames,
says he and his colleagues are starting to test newer herbicides that are
highly selective and applied at doses a fraction of those of conventional
herbicides. The new herbicides also break down in the soil in a few days.
"Part of the natural evolution of this water and
environmental quality program is a response to changes in pesticide technology
as well as farm practices," Hatfield says.
The Iowa site has high nitrate levels in water drained off
fields by underground pipes. This water pours directly into streams. Hatfield
says 40 percent of the Midwest has poorly drained soils that require similar
pipes. The pipes have perforations so some drained water can leak back into the
soil as it flows the length of the pipe into a stream.
The researchers are testing various solutions. One is
installing the pipes in a bed of woodchips and planting deep-rooting alfalfa
over the top. The woodchips are a carbon source to feed microbes that break
down the nitrate into harmless components as it leaches from the pipes. Any
nitrate that manages to leach below the woodchips will be caught by the alfalfa
roots.
Again in line with program findings, the Des Moines water
treatment plant reported record levels of nitrate this year from the Des Moines
and Raccoon Rivers, but no problem with herbicides.
Hatfield says the researchers' goal is to design farming
systems that mesh practices for better use of water with those for better use
of nutrients.
"We've been developing practices that lower subsurface
drainage nitrate content and improve yields at the same time," Hatfield says.
These concepts are being applied to the Lake Springfield watershed in Illinois
to help improve water quality in the lake.
In Ohio—Handling Drainage
Water
Researchers in Ohio are focusing their efforts on the effects
of drainage on surface water quality. They are studying poorly drained areas of
Ohio as part of the ASEQ program. The main concerns are nitrates and pesticides
reaching surface water after leaving underground drainage pipes.
They have built a highly successful system for poorly drained
soils. This system, which uses uniformly spaced drainage lines, was designed by
scientists at ARS' Soil Drainage Research Laboratory in Columbus, Ohio, working
with researchers at Ohio State University.
The system supplies irrigation water that goes into the
drainage pipes during the summer, says Norman R. Fausey, who heads the Columbus
lab. The plants get a uniform water supply, thus promoting nutrient use and
maximum yields. Almost no nitrates or pesticides leach below the pipes, and the
amount of nitrates and pesticides leaving the field through the drains in the
fall, winter, and spring is greatly reduced.
Recently, the Ohio researchers began testing the treating,
storing, and reusing of drainage and surface runoff water to irrigate. The
water is routed to a wetland constructed for that purpose. The wetland removes
sediment and nutrients before the water is stored in a reservoir. The system
has the potential to produce zero discharge to streams—helping to improve
water quality and reduce peak flows downstream.
In Minnesota—Ridge Tillage
Scientists in Minnesota are looking at how ridge tillage
affects pesticide leaching. Robert H. Dowdy, of ARS' Soil and Water Management
Research Unit at St. Paul, Minnesota, says that rotating crops with the ridge
tillage system caused an 85-percent reduction in the amount of atrazine
herbicide used over an 8-year period, compared to continuous corn grown
conventionally.
"We reduced atrazine by using it only every other year when
corn was grown and by applying it in bands over the row. This allowed us to use
two-thirds less on each application," Dowdy says. "Ninety-eight percent of the
atrazine is gone by the end of the corn season."
Dowdy's team evaluated the ability of an ARS-developed Root
Zone Water Quality Model to predict leaching of herbicides in soil. "We found
that it accurately predicted pesticide levels in the top 6 inches of soil,"
Dowdy says. "It overestimated leaching below that depth because of flaws in the
lab technique used to provide the model with leaching information. We have
since developed a new technique that corrects the problem."
The Northern Sand Plain scientists also found a way to
irrigate crops more precisely by a weekly check of soil moisture with a
portable time domain reflectometry (TDR) unit.
"While the MSEA program has used new technology like the TDR
unit and the chlorophyll meter, many of the practices in the successful ridge
tillage system are not new. What is new about this program is that it packages
practices together into systems that work, protecting water quality and growing
crops," Dowdy says.
The same is true for all the sites in the environmental
quality program.—By Don
Comis, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Water Quality and Management
(#201) and Soil Resource Management (#202), ARS National Programs described on
the World Wide Web at http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov/programs/nrsas.htm.
Scientists mentioned in this story can be
contacted through Don Comis, 5601
Sunnyside Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-5129; phone (301) 504-1625, fax (301)
504-1641. |
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"Precise Inputs for a Cleaner Environment" was published in
the January
2000 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
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