The LTAR integrated common experiment at Upper Mississippi River Basin-Platteville

Authors: BUSCH, DENNIS - University Of Wisconsin; MAHMUD, KISHAN - University Of Wisconsin; Johnson, Jane; Papanicolaou, Athanasios - Thanos; Baker, John; CARTMILL, ANDREW - Massey University

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/24/2024
Publication Date: 8/13/2024
Citation: Busch, D., Mahmud, K., Johnson, J.M., Papanicolaou, A.N., Baker, J.M., Cartmill, A.D. 2024. The LTAR integrated common experiment at Upper Mississippi River Basin-Platteville. Journal of Environmental Quality. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20620.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20620

Interpretive Summary: Dairy farmers in Wisconsin and across the country are faced with many challenges. Challenges related to climatic uncertainty, agronomic, while safe-guarding soil and water quality. Scientists together with farmers and other stakeholders are seeking new practices to face current and future obstacles. This paper describes a study within the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) located at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm. The study compares a conventional dairy production system with two alternative systems. The conventional dairy system in the area grows corn without any cover crops for four years, followed by growing alfalfa for three year. One of the alternative systems called Soil Health Management (SHM) is managed with no-tillage, includes cover crops, and application of a novel manure-based nutrient-rich stable product. The second alternative is a Management Intensive Grazing (MiG). The MIG features rotational grazing on pastures planted with diverse forage-legume mix. Weather, soil properties, water and agronomic data are collected and analyzed. In the future, the practices will be evaluated regularly. Then together with stakeholders determine what changes might be needed to reflect the "real-world" challenges faced by the farmers in the Midwest. The results of this work are valuable to producers, scientists and policymakers.

Technical Abstract: Alternative agronomic practices are needed to address the various climatic, agronomic, edaphic, and water quality related challenges faced by the dairy farmers of the Driftless Area (DA) in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). These practices should be innovative in nature, inclusive of regional stakeholders, and sustainable to meet the future food and climate related challenges of Wisconsin agriculture. Here we outline our integrated (grazing and cropland) Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) common experiment at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm in the UMRB, and describe our collaboration in this USDA network. In this experiment, we are comparing the conventional dairy production system common to this region (i.e., corn-on-corn [Zea mays L.] for four years, followed by alfalfa [Medicago sativa] for three years, with no cover crops) with two alternative dairy production systems, (a) Soil Health Management (SHM) with no-till, cover crops, and application of a novel manure-based nutrient-rich stable product; and (b) Management Intensive Grazing (MiG), rotational grazing on pastures established with diverse forage-legume mix. Meteorological, edaphic, hydrologic, and agronomic data are collected and analyzed at regular frequencies. Going forward, the experiment will continue as a form of stakeholder-driven adaptive research, and receive evaluation on a regular basis to determine whether any changes are required to address the "real-world" challenges faced by the farmers in the Midwest.