Location: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Project Number: 2054-12000-013-007-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 15, 2021
End Date: Jan 14, 2026
Objective:
The research project includes three main tasks that will be conducted in collaboration with research institutions at eight different sites in high dairy production areas of the U.S.
ARS Kimberly, Idaho will contribute to the following objective:
Deliver science-based, credible data on GHG emissions, nutrient management, water quality/quantity outcomes, and soil carbon storage on novel soil health management systems in large-plot experiments.
Non-ARS Cooperators will be responsible for the following objectives:
1. Quantify the state of soil carbon stock and soil heath at geographically dispersed dairies across the U.S.
2. Socialization of learnings across the dairy community to educate farmers, researchers, consumers, NGOs, and others to accelerate adoption of environmentally beneficial practices and technologies on U.S. Dairy Farms.
Approach:
A large plot study will assess fertilizer source (including new manure-based fertilizer products) and field history of manure on the following outcomes (a) agronomic performance, (b) soil carbon sequestration and services provisioned by soil health, and (c) nitrous oxide emissions.
ARS Kimberly will provide data from ongoing crop production studies, involving dairy manure, tillage treatments and cover crops, to assess carbon cycling and soil health practices to support this and other project objectives.
