Increases in agricultural commodity price triggered by ethanol production and other socioeconomic conditions have dramatically affected land uses and agronomic practices in the U.S. This study used crop-specific land cover data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to analyze agricultural expansion and crop rotation pattern from 2006 to 2013 in the Midwest Corn Belt (MWCB): nine states...

Despite the use of best management practices for nitrogen (N) application rate and timing, significant losses of nitrate nitrogen (NO3(-)-N) in drainage discharge continue to occur from row crop cropping systems. Our objective was to determine whether a autumn-seeded winter rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop following corn (Zea mays L.) would reduce NO3(-)-N losses through subsurface tile drain...

Growing interest in biofuel generation with cellulosic biomass from row crop residues necessitates research to investigate biomass and nutrient management systems impacts water quality. The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of a range of cropping and corn biomass harvest systems on P loss with surface runoff as affected by N-P management based on inorganic fertilizers or liq...

Intensive agriculture and increased N-fertilizer use have contributed to elevated emissions of the greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O. In this study, the exchange of the greenhouse gases, CO2, N2O, and CH4, between a Quincy fine sand (mixed, mesic Xeric Torripsamments) soil and atmosphere was measured in a sweet corn (Zea mays L.) sweet corn potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation during the 20...

Ecological nutrient management is a strategy that can help create resilient cropping systems and reduce the negative impact agricultural have on environment. enhances plant-soil-microbial interactions optimizes crop production while providing key ecosystem services. Incorporating perennial legumes into rotations implementing no-till to enhance organic nitrogen (N) soil pools could need for inor...

Total phosphorous (TP) and total suspended sediment (TSS) pollution is a problem in the US Midwest and is of particular concern in the Great Lakes region where many water bodies are already eutrophic. Increases in monoculture corn planting to feed ethanol based biofuel production could exacerbate these already stressed water bodies. In this study we expand on the previous studies relating lands...

than 90% were interested in using farm management decision support software (Frasier et al., 1997). The GPFARM is an ARS decision support system for strategic (longsame survey also showed that 57% of 219 producer term) planning. This study evaluated its performance for comparing alternative dryland no-till cropping systems and established limits of respondents were interested in a farm manageme...

Previously published research reported a “synergistic effect” of corn (Zea mays L.) on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) water use efficiency (WUE) when corn (C) was the preceding crop for dryland cropping systems in the central Great Plains, i.e., less water was required to grow a unit of wheat (W) or proso millet (M) when corn was the preceding crop. ...

Soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN) contents play a crucial role in sustaining agricultural production systems. Short-term ( 10-year) management effects on SOC and TN dynamics are often complex and variable. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate short-term tillage and cropping system effects on SOC and TN within the 0–30 cm soil depth across Iowa. The first experiment with no-tillage a...