Updates to the MANAGE database to facilitate regional analyses of nutrient runoff

Authors: Harmel, Daren; Kleinman, Peter; HOPKINS, A - Colorado State University; Millhouser, Paul; IPPOLITO, J - Colorado State University; SAHOO, D - Clemson University

Submitted to: Agricultural and Environmental Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2022
Publication Date: 11/21/2022
Citation: Harmel, R.D., Kleinman, P.J., Hopkins, A., Millhouser, P., Ippolito, J.A., Sahoo, D. 2022. Updates to the MANAGE database to facilitate regional analyses of nutrient runoff. Agricultural and Environmental Letters. 7(2). Article e20095. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20095.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20095

Interpretive Summary: Mining agricultural data is critical to comprehensively addressing the conservation challenges facing our nation. The “Measured Annual Nutrient loads from AGricultural Environments” (MANAGE) database was developed in 2006 to make annual nutrient runoff data from agricultural land uses publicly available. USDA scientists in Fort Collins, CO recently expanded MANAGE to include over 3326 site years of data representing the major U.S. agricultural regions. This contemporary data repository is freely available from the USDA Ag Data Commons (https://data.nal.usda.gov/dataset/measured-annual-nutrient-loads-agricultural-environments-manage-database) to support future scientific analyses, model evaluations, and management.

Technical Abstract: In the early 1980’s, the first compilation of nutrient export coefficients for specific land uses in the U.S. was completed. Building off that initial effort, the “Measured Annual Nutrient loads from AGricultural Environments” (MANAGE) database was developed in 2006 to make annual nutrient runoff data from agricultural land uses publicly available. MANAGE presents annual field-scale nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) runoff data, along with descriptive data such as land use, tillage, conservation practices, soil type, soil test P, slope, and fertilizer formulation, rate, and application method along with runoff, precipitation, and soil erosion data. Subsequent MANAGE updates added more studies and additional data fields (e.g., crop yield, nutrient uptake, fertilizer application timing) as well as runoff N and P data from forests and drainage studies from the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. Here, we update MANAGE to facilitate its use in regional analyses, expanding the database to 3326 site years of data, including 27 additional studies along with Level II ecoregion delineations for each of the 94 studies. Annual N and P runoff data are now available from 11 of the 50 North American Level II ecoregions, which represent the major U.S. agricultural regions. Surprisingly, many of the studies did not report information such as fertilizer application timing or crop yields, thus we strongly encourage future nutrient loss studies to collect important descriptive data along with response data. This contemporary data repository is freely available from the USDA Ag Data Commons (https://data.nal.usda.gov/dataset/measured-annual-nutrient-loads-agricultural-environments-manage-database) to support future scientific analyses, model evaluations, and management and policy decisions.