FOOD, FEED, FUEL, AND FIBER: SECURITY UNDER A CHANGING CLIMATE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1005699
• Project No.: WYO-544-15
• Multistate No.: NC-1179
• Project Start Date: Jan 21, 2015
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2019

Project Director
Norton, JA.

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
1000 E UNIVERSITY AVE DEPARTMENT 3434
LARAMIE,WY 82071-2000

Performing Department
Ecosystem Science and Management

Non Technical Summary
Climate change is in the forefront of the agricultural community. Current predictions on crop and animal performance are based on research literature and accepted understanding of the current biological systems. At present, published research is one the few options available to policy makers and producers alike to predict the potential impacts of climate change over the next 30 years. Many of these issues are extremely complex and cannot be evaluated in the field not only because of this complexity, but also because changes will be gradual. In addition, the magnitude of these changes is uncertain and difficult to predict, especially at the local scale.Numerous groups have sought to evaluate the impact of climate change on crop performance and the subsequent impacts that this may have on global food, fiber and fuel supplies. Hatfield et al. (2008) indicated that high night temperatures will reduce crop yields as a result of higher respiration requirements and carbon loss. Higher temperatures are also likely to cause more rapid crop development which may result in lower yields by shortening the grain filling period (Muchow, 1990). In fact, Lobell and Asner (2003) predict a 17 percent yield reduction in corn and soybean yield for each 1°C increase in air temperatures when temperature effect was confounded with rainfall limitation. However, when the effect of rainfall deficit was accounted for separately, then Lobell and Field (2007) reported a smaller 8.3% reduction in corn yield and a 1.3% decline in soybean yield per 1ºC rise in temperature. Backlund et al. (2008) also predict that precipitation variability will increase along with the increased incidence of heat waves. This rainfall pattern will likely result in longer periods of water stress followed by intense rainfall events. Wolfe et al. (2008) estimate that crops in the Northeast US will experience higher frequency of temperature stress, perennial crops will have inadequate chilling in the winter, and all crops will be exposed to increased pest and weed pressure. Crop, soil, pest, and economic models that are used singularly or simultaneously exist in systems that can rapidly test the impacts of drought and temperature stress on crop species.Several outcomes from this group will provide insight on the impacts of climate change on food, fiber, and fuel production. These outcomes include experience in risk management assessment, new techniques for predicting environmental stresses and the ability to assist producers in managing inputs such as irrigation water and selecting the most appropriate crop for a given scenario to achieve the goals of securing adequate food and fiber supplies while assisting a fledgling bioenergy industry. These results will also serve as the framework to expand these efforts to other regions of the U.S. and other regions of the world.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
103	0799	1070	50%
102	2410	1070	50%

Knowledge Area
103 - Management of Saline and Sodic Soils and Salinity; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0799 - Rangelands and grasslands, general; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

climate change

crop modeling

soil organic matter

Goals / Objectives
Enhance the understanding of the effects of climate variability and change on crop and livestock production systems Disseminate the research outcomes and educate stakeholders on the potential effects of climate variability and climate change on agricultural production resource use and adaptation options through cooperation with university extension services, state climate offices and various federal partners.

Project Methods
Objective 1: Enhance the understanding of the effects of climate variability and change on crop and livestock production systemsWyoming's contribution to Objective 1 will be to provide data on effects of land management approaches and ecological disturbance/restoration on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, soil CaCO3 contents and distribution, aggregation, salinity, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We will use model projections to predict changes in these variables and impacts on agriculture, range management, and reclamation of lands disturbed by energy development. Further, we will evaluate climate change adaptation/mitigation values of practices intended to increase carbon storage, improve soil quality, and increase resilience of arid and semiarid agroecosystems. Data from these studies will improve both the predictive capability and practical application of models. For instance, we are conducting studies of cropping systems on dryland and irrigated rotations in western Nebraska, eastern Wyoming and western Wyoming in which detailed information on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, including GHG emissions is collected along with yields and other soil quality information. We are conducting similar studies on both undisturbed and reclaimed rangelands impacted by energy development. We are currently initiating studies of alternative practices, including cover crops, limited irrigation, conservation tillage, and others intended to enhance ecological and economic resilience in these arid and semiarid systems. Data provides input for modeling impacts on field to regional scales using models such as Daycent. We are currently initiating this modeling effort and are eager to utilize data for additional predictive models that can inform development of management practices that enhance both mitigation of and adaptation to future climate change.Objective 5. Disseminate the research outcomes and educate stakeholders on the potential effects of climate variability and climate change on agricultural production resource use and adaptation options through cooperation with university extension services, state climate offices and various federal partners.We propose to make available the results of our work to our peers, crop producers, bioenergy producers, and policy makers through appropriate communication channels. This will include publishing peer reviewed research articles, extension publications, and web based publications and applications. The intended audience would be extension agents, policy makers, crop consultants, state and regional climatologists, and crop production researchers.For Wyoming, we will publish interpretative extension publications aimed particularly at extension educators, producers, and policy makers about projected effects of climate change on crop production, forage production, wildfire frequency and behavior, land reclamation, and other critical natural resource issues in Wyoming. We will present research results in context of broader results from the NC1179 group as extension and outreach talks to the target audiences. We will maintain Web-based information on climate change and will publish related research results in peer-reviewed journals.

Progress 01/21/15 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Wyoming crop and livestock producers, agricultural educators, and interested citizens were reached with information on management systems to increase soil organic matter and climate change resilience via applied research, field days, workshops, and newspaper articles. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional communities of interest have been reached through journal articles and conference presentations; agricultural producers have been reached through collaborative research, project meetings/workshops, and newspaper articles; other communities of interest have been reached through newspaper articles, field days, and by describing agricultural research during soil health presentations for local food and gardening groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We continued our participatory project funded by USDA Western SARE to engage progressive producers in on-farm research to evaluate integration of cover crops and livestock into intensive irrigated cropping systems. We continued to engage producers of irrigated crops and forages in the Big Horn Basin on reduced-disturbance management practices to maintain and increase soil organic matter in depleted soils after long-term tillage-intensive production. We worked with dryland winter wheat producers to continue on-farm and research-station NIFA-OREI-funded research on increasing organic matter and nutrient status in depleted soils through strategic compost applications and cover crop planting/termination. We received a new OREI grant to continue that work. We also received an OREI conference grant to support the 7th annual High Plains Organic Conference held each February in Cheyenne.J.B. Norton gave six Extension presentations to farmers, ranchers, homeowners, and others on the role of soil management in adapting to and mitigating climate change.These efforts have increased both the awareness of effects of increased climate variability on production and on innovative combinations of practices that increase cropping system resilience to increased variability.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bush, Taylor, and Jay B. Norton. 2019. Integrating Cover Crops and Livestock in Irrigated Cropping Systems. 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 10-13,San Antonio, Texas. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/121872
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Norton, Urszula, and Elizabeth Moore. 2019. Cover Crops Suitability for Dryland Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum)-Fallow in Semi-Arid Region: Nitrogen, Water Use and Competition with Weedy Species. 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 10-13,San Antonio, Texas. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/121018
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Helseth, Christina, and Urszula Norton. 2019. Improving Dryland Organic Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.) Performance By the Inclusion of Composted Cattle Manure and Cover Crops in the Fallow. 2019 ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 10-13,San Antonio, Texas. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/120460
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Norton, Urszula, Mavis Brempong, and Jay B. Norton. 2018. Crop Yield, Soil Nitrogen and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Responses to the Application of Composted Manure Followed By Cover Crops in Dryland Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Wyoming. ASA-CSSA International Annual Meeting, Nov. 4-7, Baltimore, MD. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2018am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/112851
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bush, Taylor, and Jay B. Norton. 2019. Integrating Livestock and Cover Crops into Irrigated Crop Rotations. SSSA annual Meeting, Jan. 6-9, 2019, San Diego, CA. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019sssa/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/116484
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Brempong, M., U. Norton, and J.B. Norton. 2019. Compost and soil moisture effects on seasonal carbon and nitrogen dynamics, greenhouse gas fluxes and global warming potential of semi-arid soils. International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture DOI 10.1007/s40093-019-00309-4.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kasten, Mike. 2018. Grazing Influence on Wetland Extent and Soil Organic Carbon Storage in the National Trails Management Corridor of Central Wyoming. MS
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Norton, Urszula. 2019. Cover Crop Management in Dryland Winter Wheat in Northern High Plains. Presentation at the High Plains Organic Farming Conference, Cheyenne, February 27-28, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4lsFs5Y5cY
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Norton, Jay B., D. Terrence Booth, Samuel E. Cox, John C. Likins, Richard C. Anderson-Sprecher. 2019. Effects of Long-Term Uncontrolled Grazing on Soils of Semiarid Riparian Meadows. SSSA annual Meeting, Jan. 6-9, 2019, San Diego, CA. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019sssa/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/116481.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Fulcher, Brandon, and Jay B. Norton. 2019. Effects of Grazing Management and Climate Change on Soil Water Storage and Extent of Semiarid Riparian Meadows. SSSA annual Meeting, Jan. 6-9, 2019, San Diego, CA. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2019sssa/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/116563

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Wyoming crop and livestock producers, agricultural educators, and interested citizens were reached with information on management systems to increase soil organic matter and climate change resilience via applied research, field days, workshops, and newspaper articles. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional communities of interest have been reached through journal articles and conference presentations; agricultural producers have been reached through collaborative research, project meetings/workshops, and newspaper articles; other communities of interest have been reached through newspaper articles, field days, and by describing agricultural research during soil health presentations for local food and gardening groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Collaborative farmer-scientist research on conservation management in dryland and irrigated systems will continue, and results will be presented at project-specific field days, project science meetings, research station field days, and regional and national meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We initiated a new participatory project funded by USDA Western SARE to engage progressive producers in on-farm research to evaluate integration of cover crops and livestock into intensive irrigated cropping systems. We continued to engage producers of irrigated crops and forages in the Big Horn Basin on reduced-disturbance management practices to maintain and increase soil organic matter in depleted soils after long-term tillage-intensive production. We worked with dryland winter wheat producers to continue on-farm and research-station NIFA-OREI-funded research on increasing organic matter and nutrient status in depleted soils through strategic compost applications and cover crop planting/termination. These efforts have increased both the awareness of effects of increased climate variability on production and on innovative combinations of practices that increase cropping system resilience to increased variability.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Cude, S.M., M.A. Ankeny, J.B. Norton, T.J. Kelleners, and C.F. Strom. 2018. Capillary barriers improve reclamation in drastically disturbed semiarid shrubland. Arid Land Research and Management 32:259-276.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Day, S.J., J.B. Norton, C.F. Strom, T.J. Kelleners, and E.F. Aboukila. 2018. Gypsum, langbeinite, sulfur, and compost for reclamation of drastically disturbed calcareous saline-sodic soils. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1671-5.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ghimire, R., J.B. Norton, and U. Norton. 2018. Soil organic matter dynamics under irrigated perennial forage⿿annual crop rotations. Grass and Forage Science DOI: 10.1111/gfs.12378 .

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Wyoming crop and livestock producers, agricultural educators, and interested citizens were reached with information on management systems to increase soil organic matter and climate change resilience via applied research, field days, workshops, and newspaper articles. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional communities of interest have been reached through journal articles and conference presentations; agricultural producers have been reached through collaborative research, project meetings/workshops, and newspaper articles; other communities of interest have been reached through newspaper articles and by describing agricultural research during soil health presentations for local food and gardening groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Collaborative farmer-scientist research on conservation management in dryland and irrigated systems will continue, and results will be presented at project-specific field days, project science meetings, research station field days, and regional and national meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We held workshops to enhance understanding and disseminate research outcomes on conservation cropping systems and limited irrigation, including cover crops, strip-till, zero till, direct bean harvest, and integrating livestock in irrigated sugarbeet, barley, dry bean rotations. We continued to engage producers of irrigated crops and forages in the Big Horn Basin on reduced-disturbance management practices to maintain and increase soil organic matter in depleted soils after long-term tillage-intensive production. We worked with dryland winter wheat producers to continue on-farm and research-station NIFA funded research on increasing organic matter and nutrient status in depleted soils through strategic compost applications and cover crop planting/termination. These efforts have increased both the awareness of effects of increased climate variability on production and on innovative combinations of practices that increase cropping system resilience to increased variability. We also wrote newspaper articles, presented posters at field days, and presented results at regional and national conferences to disseminate research results and educate stakeholders.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bista, P., U. Norton, R. Ghimire, and J.B. Norton. 2017. Effects of tillage system on greenhouse gas fluxes and soil mineral nitrogen in wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.)-fallow during drought. Journal of Arid Environments. Available online 19 September 2017.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Rooney, Erin C. 2017. Effects of cover crops and compost on phosphorus cycling in calcareous soils. MS Thesis, University of Wyoming.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Rooney, E.C., and J.B. Norton. 2017. Effect of cover crops on wheat biomass production and phosphorus availability in calcareous soils. SSSA Annual Meeting, October 22-25, 2017, Tampa, FL. (2nd place in student competition)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Badu, M., U. Norton, and J.B. Norton. 2017. Response of greenhouse gas emissions to varying compost rates and soil moisture under laboratory conditions. Soil Science Society of America, Tampa, FL.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Wyoming crop and livestock producers, agricultural educators, and interested citizens were reached with information on management systems to increase soil organic matter and climate change resilience via applied research, field days, workshops, and newspaper articles. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional communities of interest have been reached through journal articles and conference presentations; agricultural producers have been reached through collaborative research, project meetings/workshops, and newspaper articles; other communities of interest have been reached through newspaper articles and by describing agricultural research during soil health presentations for local food and gardening groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Collaborative farmer-scientist research on conservation management in dryland and irrigated systems will continue, and results will be presented at project-specific field days, project science meetings, research station field days, and regional and national meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We held workshops to enhance understanding and disseminate research outcomes on conservation cropping systems and limited irrigation, including cover crops, strip-till, zero till, direct bean harvest, and integrating livestock in irrigated sugarbeet, barley, dry bean rotations. We continued to engage producers of irrigated crops and forages in the Big Horn Basin on reduced-disturbance management practices to maintain and increase soil organic matter in depleted soils after long-term tillage-intensive production. We worked with dryland winter wheat producers to continue on-farm and research-station NIFA-funded research on increasing organic matter and nutrient status in depleted soils through strategic compost applications and cover crop planting/termination. These efforts have increased both the awareness of effects of increased climate variability on production and on innovative combinations of practices that increase cropping system resilience to increased variability. We also wrote newspaper articles, presented posters at field days, and presented results at regional and national conferences to disseminate research results and educate stakeholders.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hurisso TT, U Norton, JB Norton, J Odhiambo, SJ Del Grosso, GW Hergert,DJ Lyon. 2016. Dryland soil greenhouse gases and yield-scaled emissions in no-till and organic winter wheatfallow systems. Soil Science Society of America Journal 80 (1), 178-192.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ghimire R, U Norton, P Bista, AK Obour, JB Norton. 2017. Soil organic matter, greenhouse gases and net global warming potential of irrigated conventional, reduced-tillage and organic cropping systems. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 107: 4962.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bista, P., U. Norton, R. Ghimire, J. Norton. Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Soil Mineral N and Global Warming Potential in Semi-Arid Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.)-Fallow during Drought. Submitted on Oct 5th 2016. In review in Journal of Arid Environments.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Rooney EC, M Badu, J Norton, U Norton, E Creech. 2016. Compost carryover and cover crop effects on soil quality and profitability in dryland wheat. Proceedings of the Great Plains Soil Fertility Conference, March 1-2, 2016, Denver.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Rooney EC, JB Norton. 2016. Cover Crops and Compost Carryover Effects on Phosphorus Cycling in Calcareous Soils. Abstracts, Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy. November 7, 2016, Phoenix.

Progress 01/21/15 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Wyoming crop and livestock producers, agricultural educators, and interested citizenswere reached with information on management systems to increase soil organic matter and climate change resilience via applied research, field days, workshops, and newspaper articles. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional communities of interest have been reached through journal articles and conference presentations; agricultural producers have been reached through collaborative research, project meetings/workshops, and newspaper articles; other communities of interest have been reached through newspaper articles and by describing agricultural research during soil health presentations for local food and gardening groups. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Collaborative farmer-scientist research on conservation management in dryland and irrigated systems will continue, and results will be presented at project-specific field days, project science meetings, research station field days, and regional andnational meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We held workshops to enhance understanding and disseminate research outcomeson conservation cropping systems and limited irrigation, including cover crops, strip-till, zero till, direct bean harvest, and integrating livestock in irrigated sugarbeet, barley, dry bean rotations. We continued to engage producers of irrigated crops and forages in the Big Horn Basin on reduced-disturbance management practices to maintain and increase soil organic matter in depleted soils after long-term tillage-intensive production.We worked with dryland winter wheat producers to initiate on-farm and research-station NIFA-fundedresearch on increasing organic matter and nutrient status in depleted soils through strategic compost applications and cover crop planting/termination. These efforts have increased both the awareness of effects of increased climate variability on production and on innovative combinations of practices that increase cropping system resilience to increased variability. We also wrote newspaper articles, presented posters at field days, and presented results at regional and national conferences to disseminate research results and educate stakeholders.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bista, P., U. Norton, R. Ghimire, and J.B. Norton. 2015. Greenhouse gas fluxes and soil carbon and nitrogen following single summer tillage event. International Journal of Plant and Soil Science 6:183-193, DOI: 10.9734/IJPSS/2015/16234.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hurisso, T.T., J.B. Norton, E.J. Mukhwana, and U. Norton. 2015. Soil organic carbon and nitrogen fractions and sugarbeet sucrose yield in furrow-irrigated agroecosystems. Soil Science Society of America Journal: doi:10.2136/sssaj2015.02.0073.