Location: Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research
Project Number: 8070-21600-001-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Nov 20, 2023
End Date: Nov 19, 2028
Objective:
Objective 1: Evaluate historical crop-livestock systems management practices and explore innovative best management strategies for adapting to changing climate and improving environmental sustainability.
Sub-objective 1.A: Determine the progress made in reducing the environmental impacts of dairy farming in the U.S. over the past 50 years (led by Rotz).
Sub-objective 1.B: Improve quantification of the global warming impacts caused by cattle systems (led by Rotz).
Sub-objective 1.C: Develop and evaluate strategies for improving the sustainability of U.S. dairy farms (led by Rotz).
Sub-objective 1.D: Evaluate the environmental and economic benefits of Kernza as a dual-purpose crop with potential application in cattle systems (led by Rotz).
Sub-objective 1.E: Characterize the adoption and effectiveness of pesticide mitigation strategies under historic and future climate impacts (led by Adler).
Objective 2: Develop and enhance computational tools to support and optimize crop-livestock systems management solutions to improve production efficiency, environmental sustainability, and economic feasibility.
Sub-objective 2.A: Develop and evaluate fusion strategies with targeted UAS imagery to improve the use of satellite imagery across space, time, and spectral range for crop nitrogen recommendations (led by Adler).
Sub-objective 2.B: Improve ecosystem service modeling and accounting capabilities to better quantify the trade-offs and synergies between agricultural production and non-market ecosystem services in diverse agricultural landscapes, resulting in more effective decision support tools (led by Goslee).
Objective 3: Holistically assess the short- and long-term impacts of contaminants such as PFAS on agroecosystems in order to innovate remediation strategies. (stretch objective, led by Veith)
Sub-objective 3.A: Assess indicators of water quality and stream health beyond achieving mandated load reduction goals for nutrients and sediment.
Sub-objective 3.B: Simulate water quality and stream health in current and future climate projections.
Approach:
Managing modern, sustainable agricultural systems requires complex strategies to meet food, fuel, and fiber production goals while supporting ecosystem services and minimizing negative environmental impacts. Management strategies that meet production needs while also storing carbon, cycling nutrients, improving water quality, and providing pollinator habitats require research strategies at scales from field and farm to watershed and expanding into regional and national syntheses. Further, research approaches must address historic climatic drivers and prepare for future climatic impacts.
Integrated crop-livestock systems are a customizable alternative to highly specialized agricultural operations. These integrated systems offer holistic approaches that more closely resemble farming approaches used decades ago before modern agriculture became more specialized; approaches well-suited to the complex landscapes of the northeastern United States and provide more opportunities to realize environmental benefits. In this project, we will harness technological advances in computational speed for complex simulation programs and extensive data analysis.
In objective 1, we will apply farm-scale modeling and life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental improvements of beef and dairy farming over the past five decades and identify lower-impact management strategies. In objective 2, we will research and develop novel technologies to assess trade-offs and synergies among agricultural management strategies and related ecosystem services beyond the farm borders. In objective 3, we will collaborate across ARS locations to better understand and predict the transport of contaminants of emerging concern into, within, and from agricultural systems. We will measure per- or poly- fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), neonicotinoids, pharmaceuticals, and other low-level contaminants in the stream via grab sampling and in-stream passive membrane absorption. We will use low-level detection advances in analytical laboratory equipment and create contaminant transport models. Objective 3 is a bit of a stretch objective as robust collection and detection methods for these compounds of emerging concern are currently in development and interactions are not well understood.
We will collaborate with larger USDA-led research networks, including the Long-Term Agroecological Research network (LTAR), Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), and Dairy Agroecosystems Working Group (DAWG). Such networking provides expertise and data on outcomes from management strategies for cropping and crop-livestock systems that will be used to confirm results and provide a basis for extrapolation of future systems in all objectives.
Improved strategies to increase sustainable multifunctionality will benefit farmers by reducing input costs and improving soil and water quality within their farms and watersheds. It will also improve the environmental health for everyone. Regionally and nationally, data, tools, and assessments provided to NRCS, industry, and non-governmental agencies will contribute to evaluations of current progress and guide future planning.
