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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420960
Research Project: Managing Nutrient, Carbon, and Water Fluxes to Provide Sustainable and Resilient Cropping Systems for Midwestern Landscapes

Location: Agroecosystems Management Research

Title: Interrelationships of plant, soil, and water quality C and N components in an organic vs a conventional system in a mollisol of the U.S. Midwest

Author
item Ruis, Sabrina
item Kovar, John
item Wacha, Kenneth
item O'Brien, Peter
item DELATE, KATHLEEN - Iowa State University

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/2024
Publication Date: 11/10/2024
Citation: Ruis, S.J., Kovar, J.L., Wacha, K.M., O'Brien, P.L., Delate, K. 2024. Interrelationships of plant, soil, and water quality C and N components in an organic vs a conventional system in a mollisol of the U.S. Midwest [abstract]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Understanding carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) inputs, outputs, and pool sizes in various agroecosystems is crucial for understanding C and N cycling. However, exploration of such relationships under organic farming are scant in the literature. Our objective was to determine how an organic corn-soybean-oat/alfalfa-alfalfa system alters C and N inputs, pools, leaching losses, and their interrelationships compared with a conventional corn-soybean system over eight years of management. Both systems received the same amount of N during the corn phase, differing in source only (manure for organic and synthetic fertilizer for conventional). We analyzed plant aboveground and soil pools of C and N annually. C and N loads from tile drainage were analyzed weekly and summed for annual totals.