Location: Agroecosystems Management Research
Project Number: 5030-13000-012-001-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2017
End Date: Dec 31, 2021
Objective:
Quantify the impact of 4R Nutrient Stewardship on crop yield, nutrient removal with grain, nutrient losses with leaching, and nitrogen losses with gas across a network of coordinated studies in the major corn producing area of North America.
Approach:
The project objectives would be implemented at drainage facilities across the primary corn producing areas of North America. Many of these sites have a long history of drainage water quality investigations, which presents a significant opportunity to leverage previous and ongoing investments in drainage and agronomic research. The drainage systems are consistent with commonly used practices in the individual areas. Since common nitrogen management practices implemented by farmers vary across the Corn Belt due to such factors as availability of certain sources of nitrogen, the specific treatments across all sites are not the same, but rather, we proposed a systems approach where at least a farmer standard practice for the area is compared to a more advanced 4R Nitrogen Management System. Nevertheless, there are quite a few similarities in treatments. Of note, most sites also include a no nitrogen treatment so that nitrogen losses and grain yield with no external inputs of nitrogen can be investigated.
