Progress 12/01/11 to 11/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary audience is irrigated maize producers in Nebraska, or other areas of the US or internationally with comparable climate and soil conditions. A secondary audience is other scientists investigating nitrogen use efficiency and site-specific crop management. Changes/Problems:Challenges were identified with one of the primary sites (Brule Water Resources Lab) selected for foundational studies associated with this research. Over time we learned that spatial variation in soil properties and resulting crop productivity was extremely high - well beyond that found on typical producer fields. Consequently, it was difficult to extrapolate what we learned from this site to other locations. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Over the course of the project, two graduate students contributed to this research (1 PhD, 1 MS). Both were successful in their graduate careers and are now both faculty members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Scientific journal articles Producer-oriented field days, workshops, newsletters Popular press articles Revisions to Extension publications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project showed that there are significant interactions between water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) as soil properties vary across irrigated fields. Soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), soil organic matter, and topography (influencing water flow and infiltration) interact to influence WUE and NUE in space and time. We were not successful in identifying a process by which these factors interact that was predictive for all sites studied. At some locations ECa was a significant factor influencing either NUE or WUE, at other sites it was not. Typically economically optimal N rates increased with irrigation capacity vs rainfed production. In later years of the project, focus shifted to sensor and/or model-based N management. In-season N fertilization based on sensor information was found to be a better predictor of optimizing NUE that predictive approaches using a crop growth model. In general, producers in Nebraska have significantly increased average NUE over time, but there are trends for little change in NUE over the past decade or so. This information suggests that widespread use of preplant N fertilization, coupled with predictive approaches to N rate determination, may have reached a limit in improving NUE. Further significant increases in NUE are likely to require in-season management of both N and irrigation water through the use of sensors or significantly improved prediction models.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Ferguson, Richard B. 2015. Groundwater quality and nitrogen use efficiency in Nebraskas Central Platte River Valley. Journal of Environmental Quality 44:449-459.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Thompson, L.J., R.B. Ferguson, N. Kitchen, D.W. Franzen, M. Mamo, H. Yang, and J.S. Schepers. 2015. Model and Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches for In-Season Nitrogen Management in Corn. Agronomy Journal. 107:2020-2030.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Rudnick, D.R., S. Irmak, R. Ferguson, T. Shaver, K. Djamman, G. Slater, A. Bereuter, N. Ward, D. Francis, M. Schmer, B. Wienhold, S. VanDonk. 2016. Economic return vs. crop water productivity of maize for various nitrogen rates under full irrigation, limited irrigation, and rainfed settings in south central Nebraska. J. Irrigation and Drainage Engineering 142 (6):04016017.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Davidson, Eric. A., Rachel. L. Nifong, Richard B. Ferguson, Cheryl Palm, Deanna L. Osmond, Jill S. Baron. 2016. Nutrients in the Nexus. J. Environ. Stud. Sci. 6:25-38.
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Scientific Community: Project results are shared with scientists in Nebraska, at similar institutions in the US, and with scientists at international institutions with similar research interests. Agricultural Advisors: Crop consultants, fertilizer dealers, and local, state and federal agencies who advise crop producers on irrigated crop production. Crop Producers: Primarily Nebraska irrigated crop producers, but results are also disseminated to international audiences via conferences and publications. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two PhD students completed work on this project in 2015: Nick Ward and Brian Krienke, with resulting publication of dissertations and pending journal publications. One post-doctoral research associate was involved with the project in 2015. In addition, three undergraduate student workers were engaged in field and laboratory research efforts during 2015. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from the project have been shared in a variety of regional, national and international venues in 2015: European Conference on Precision Agriculture, Tel Aviv, Israel, July 2015 Southern Africa Fertilizer Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, August 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Minneapolis, MN, November 2015 North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference, Des Moines, IA, November 2015 Alabama Corn and Wheat Shortcourse, Auburn, AL, December 2015 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Field and laboratory studies will continue in 2016 on portions of the study.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The use of an active crop canopy sensor (modified RapidScan CS-45) mounted on an unmanned aerial sensing platform (UAS) was compared to a passive sensor (Tetracam MCA6) and ground-based active sensor (RapidScan CS-45) to assess nitrogen status of irrigated maize at the V11 growth stage. The UAS-mounted active sensor was sensitive to crop N status at heights of 0.5-1.5 m above the canopy, though this height range will be significantly influenced by the light output of specific active sensors. At this height range Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE) vegetation index values predicted N stress as well as NDRE from passive or ground-based active sensors. The use of an active sensor with UAS has promise as a tool for temporally and spatially dense measurement of crop N status. Results of this study were shared at the 10th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, July 12-16, 2015, Tel Aviv, Israel, and have been submitted for publication to the Journal of Precision Agriculture. Effects of synthetic gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum, FGDG) applied across variable landscapes for irrigated corn and soybean production continued to be evaluated on two producer fields in south-central Nebraska. No evidence of heavy metal contamination (As, Se, Cd, Hg, Cr or Pb) were found in any soil samples following FGDG application, or in any crop uptake, either corn or soybean. Soil sulfur levels were significantly increased with increasing rate of FGDG. No significant impact on soil physical properties (bulk density, porosity, sorptivity) were measured with any rate of FGDG application. When field zones of varying soil organic matter or pH were identified, there were no significant impacts on grain yield of FGDG application, at any rate, within these zones for the corn site in 2014. However, regression analysis did indicate an overall slight increase in corn grain yield with FGDG application in 2014. Analysis on soybean yield in 2014 is still incomplete; the study was continued with evaluation of residual treatment effects on the same sites in 2015. Results from 2014 were shared at the annual meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, November 2015, Minneapolis, MN. An investigation of the use of different vegetation indices (VI) and published N rate algorithms based on VI was conducted at sites in south central and western Nebraska, using treatments that included varying levels of irrigation and N fertilizer rate. The study used a Holland Scientific ACS-470 active crop canopy sensor for canopy measurements, which were used to calculate three VI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Chlorophyll Index Red Edge (CIRE) and a VI developed by Datt (termed the DATT index). Only the DATT index was found to accurately assess N stress in the presence of water stress. Use of VI with N recommendations algorithms developed for other VI resulted in inaccurate N recommendations. Study results were published in 2015 in a dissertation by Nick Ward.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Peng, X., B. Maharjan, C. Yu, A. Su, R. Ferguson. 2015. A Laboratory Evaluation of Ammonia Volatilization and Nitrate Leaching Following Nitrogen Fertilizer Application on a Coarse-Textured Soil. Agronomy Journal 107:871-879.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Thompson, L.J., R.B. Ferguson, N. Kitchen, D.W. Franzen, M. Mamo, H. Yang, and J.S. Schepers. 2015. Model and Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches for In-Season Nitrogen Management in Corn. Agronomy Journal. 107:2020-2030.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Krienke, B., R. Ferguson, B. Maharjan. 2015. Using an unmanned aerial vehicle to evaluate nitrogen availability and distance effect with an active crop canopy sensor. In J. Stafford (ed.): Precision Agriculture 15, Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, Tel Aviv, Israel, 12-16 July 2015.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Ward, N.C. Nitrogen and Water Effects on Canopy Sensor Measurements for Site-Specific Management of Crops
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Krienke, B.T. Assessing Factors Influencing Maize Yield Response to Nitrogen Using Remote Sensing Technologies
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Scientific community: Results from project are shared with scientists within Nebraska, at similar institutions in the US, and with scientists at international institutions with similar research interests. Agricultural advisors: Crop consultants, fertilizer dealers, and state and federal agencies which advise producers on irrigated crop management. Crop producers: Primarily Nebraska irrigated crop producers, but results are also available to interested producers outside Nebraska. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The overall project has provided training opportunities for three graduate students: one PhD engineering student who will complete their PhD in May 2015: a second PhD agronomy student who will finish either May or December 2015; and a MS agronomy student who graduated in May 2014. In addition, a post-doctoral research associate began affiliation with the project in December 2013. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results from the project were shared at international, national, regional and state conferences in 2014: International Conference on Precision Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, July 2014. Regional Nitrogen Use Efficiency Workshop, Sioux Falls, SD, August 2014. The Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Long Beach, CA, November 2014. North Central Extension/Industry Soil Fertility Conference, Des Moines, IA, November 2014. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Field and laboratory studies will continue in 2015 on portions of the project. The major industry supported field effort on landscape effects on N and water interactions ended in 2014.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The overall project objective is to explore interactions of water and nitrogen supply to crops across varied landscapes within the framework of irrigated maize production systems. Our overall hypothesis is that concurrent in-season assessment of crop N status and water availability or stress, coupled with in-season management of water and N supply, will increase water and nitrogen use efficiencies relative to current uniform management practices. Interactions of water and N supply on crop water and nitrogen use efficiency and grain yield were evaluated at two primary sites in 2014 (SCAL, South Central Agricultural Laboratory; BWL, Brule Water Laboratory). Peripheral sites were located on cooperating producer's fields in 2014. Implementation of a new variable rate irrigation system in 2014 at the BWL site enabled more accurate treatments than in past years. In contrast to 2013, which had significant weather damage at both primary sites reducing the value of data collected, 2014 had excellent growing conditions at both primary sites. Spatial analysis of data across landscapes is still in progress. However, analysis of data from 2012-2014 growing seasons have found interactions of soil properties and landscape features on water and N use efficiency to be more complex than anticipated. Even a site with seemingly uniform topography and soil properties was found to have enough variation to influence water and N use efficiency spatially. Evidence from these studies suggests that soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa), surface soil organic matter content, and topography are useful spatial layers in developing algorithms for variable rate irrigation and N fertilization. There is as yet no approach we feel is applicable across all field situations for such algorithms. A separate study has evaluated spatial response of irrigated maize to application of synthetic gypsum, or flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) across variable landscapes. FGDG is a by-product of sulfur removal from the flue gas stream from coal-fired power plants. The sulfur contained in FGDG is a plant nutrient, with potential benefit in low organic matter, eroded areas of fields. There is also significant un-reacted calcium carbonate (lime) in FGDG, potentially beneficial in low pH areas of fields. Varying rates of FGDG were applied to two research sites in Adams County, Nebraska in 2014 on cooperating producer's fields. Each site has substantial variation in soil properties, including organic matter and pH. Response to treatment in 2014 found a non-statistically significant trend for increased grain yield of maize with FGDG application, and no effect on grain yield for soybean. Spatial analysis of data for areas of low OM or pH is on-going. There was also no significant treatment effects on heavy metal accumulation in soil or plant residues or grain. A separate study has evaluated the potential for aerial sensing platforms (unmanned airial vehicles, or UAVs) to collect information on spatial crop N and water stress during the growing season using an active crop canopy sensor. Active crop canopy sensors have their own light source, rather than relying on solar reflectance, and can be used independent of solar conditions (cloud cover, day vs night, etc). Active sensors have only been used on ground vehicles to this point. The system was evaluated using different N fertilizer rates over both cool-season turf and maize in 2014. The study found that the UAV-mounted active sensor performed similarly to a ground-based sensor in detecting N and water stress. The specific sensor used was a modified Holland Scientific RapidScan, and could accurately detect N stress to a distance of 1.5 m above the crop canopy.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Ferguson, Richard B. 2014. Groundwater quality and nitrogen use efficiency in Nebraskas Central Platte River Valley. Journal of Environmental Quality 2014 0: 0: - doi:10.2134/jeq2014.02.0085
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Pan, L., Adamchuk, V.I., Ferguson, R.B., Dutilleul, P.R.L. and Prasher, S.O. (2014) Analysis of Water Stress Prediction Quality as Influenced by the Number and Placement of Temporal Soil-Water Monitoring Sites. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 6:961-971.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Blanco, H., Ferguson, R., Jin, V., Schmer, M., Wienhold, B., Tatarko, J. (2014). Can cover crop and manure maintain soil properties after stover removal from irrigated no-till corn? Soil Science Society of America, 78:1368-1377.
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Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Scientific community: Results from project are shared with scientists within Nebraska, at similar institutions in the US, and with scientists at international institutions with similar research interests. The scientific community also includes graduate students at the University of Nebraska and elsewhere. Agricultural advisors: Crop consultants, fertilizer dealers, and state and federal agencies which advise producers on irrigated crop management. Crop producers: Primarily Nebraska irrigated crop producers, but results are relevant to producers elsewhere with similar cropping systems and climate. Changes/Problems: Weather issues: Destruction of the SCAL study site in 2013 by hail resulted in significant loss of data. Field complexity: The BWL site has been found to have extreme variation in soil texture, yield potential, and productivity, which is atypical of producer fields in southwest Nebraska. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The study has resulted in training opportunities for two graduate students, one in agronomy, the other in irrigation engineering. Both students are in the process of completing their theses/dissertations and preparing publications. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results from the study were disseminated at international, national and regional conferences in 2013. The Ninth European Conference on Precision Agriculture. Lleida, Spain, July 7-11, 2013. The Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy. Tampa, Florida. Nov. 3-6, 2013 Various Extension workshops and conferences in Nebraska. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Field studies will be conducted across Nebraska, but with different scales and treatments, as a significant industry grant supporting the project ends in 2014. One PhD student will complete his dissertation and submit journal articles for publications from work under this project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Interactions of water and nitrogen (N) supply for crop production can be quite complex across field landscapes. The availability of variable rate fertilization systems, and now variable rate irrigation systems, provides crop producers the opportunity to adjust inputs of water and N according to variation in soil properties. A study was conducted across Nebraska, at two major field study sites in 2012-2013 - the South Central Agricultural Laboratory (SCAL) and the Brule Water Resources Laboratory (BWL). evaluated interactions of water and N supply with landscape features for irrigated maize in 2011 and 2012. Crop yield response to treatments varied with year, as 2012 experienced severe drought conditions. There was evidence from one site/year that irrigation water use efficiency and agronomic efficiency were correlated, with lower productivity areas of fields requiring different levels of water and N than more productive areas. In 2013 a hail and wind storm destroyed the study site at SCAL, resulting in no useful yield information. Data from the BWL site in 2013 is still being analyzed.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Blanco, H., Shapiro, C., Wortmann, C., Drijber, R., Mamo, M., Shaver, T., Ferguson, R. 2013. Soil organic carbon: The value to soil properties. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 68(5), 129A-134A.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Huang, H.H., V.I. Adamchuk, I.I. Boiko, R.B. Ferguson. 2013. Effect of soil sampling patterns and interpolation methods on prediction quality of soil variability mapping. . In J Stafford (ed.): Precision Agriculture 13, Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, Lleida, Spain, 7-11 July, 2013. pp 243-250.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Meals, D.W., R. Spalding, M. Spalding, R. Ferguson, M. McFarland, D. Osmond, J. Spooner. 2013. Groundwater beneath a Phase III Management Area in the Central Platte Natural Resources District, Nebraska: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Conservation Effects Assessment Project. In: How to Build Better Agricultural Conservation Programs to Protect Water Quality: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture Conservation Effects Assessment Project Experience. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ames, IA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Ferguson, R., M. Schmer, T. Shaver, B. Wienhold, S. Van Donk, S. Irmak, D. Rudnick, N. Ward, V. Jin, D. Francis, A. Bereuter, L. Hendrickson. 2013. Variable rate irrigation and nitrogen fertilization of maize across landscape positions. In J Stafford (ed.): Precision Agriculture 13, Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, Lleida, Spain, 7-11 July, 2013. pp 729-736.
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Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Preliminary findings from this project have been shared via a number of venues to researchers, international scientists, crop advisors, and farmers. Information from the project was shared in a soils school for fertilizer dealers and crop consultants, in collaboration with the Nebraska Agricultural Business Association, in March. A paper was presented on the project at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture, Indianapolis, IN, in July, accompanied by a proceedings article. In August, project objectives and preliminary results for 2012 were shared during the South Central Agricultural Lab Field Day. A paper and proceedings article were presented at the North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference, Des Moines, IA, in November. PARTICIPANTS: Viacheslav Adamchuk, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Luciano Shiratsuchi, EMBRAPA, Sinop, Brazil Xianlong Peng, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China Cailian Yu, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, China Tim Shaver, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Platte, NE Simon Van Donk, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Platte, NE Suat Irmak, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Joe Luck, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Daran Rudnick, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Nick Ward, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Brian Wienhold, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE Marty Schmer, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE Virginia Jin, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE Dennis Francis, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE Aaron Bereuter, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE Larry Hendrickson, John Deere Technology Innovation Center, Champaign, IL TARGET AUDIENCES: Information from the project is relevant to a wide range of audiences, including, but not limited to: other researchers, irrigated crop producers,crop consultants, fertilizer and irrigation system dealers, NRCS staff, Natural resources district staff. Information from the project was disseminated through a variety of venues described in the outputs section. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
A total of eleven field studies were conducted in 2012 across Nebraska evaluating interactions of nitrogen (N) and water supply for irrigated maize. At several of these locations, landscape scale variation was accounted for in the experimental design. Several sites also investigated interactions of maize cultivar with N and water supply. The 2012 growing season was one of historic drought across Nebraska; consequently results are likely atypical. Yield levels were quite high with irrigated conditions, due to above-average net radiation and no loss of N due to excessive rainfall. Significant correlations were observed, at least at some locations, between agronomic efficiency of nitrogen (AEn) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). At other locations, N use efficiency varied significantly with maize cultivar. At sites with substantial landscape variation, AEn and IWUE varied significantly with landscape position. In general, landscape positions with historically lower yield potential also had both lower AEn and lower IWUE.
Publications
- Peng, X., C. Yu, R. Ferguson 2012. Use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers to reduce leaching and volatilization loss. In: Proceedings of the 42nd Annual North Central Extension-Industry Soil Fertility Conference, November 14-15, 2012, Des Moines, IA. Pp 80-88.
- Adamchuk, V., L. Shiratsuchi, C. Lutz, R. Ferguson. 2012. Integrated crop canopy sensing system for spatial analysis of in-season crop performance. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Precision Agriculture, International Society of Precision Agriculture, July 15-18, 2012, Indianapolis, IN. (CD publication).
- Ferguson, R., T. Shaver, N. Ward, S. Irmak, S. Van Donk, D. Rudnick, B. Wienhold, M. Schmer, V. Jin, D. Francis, V. Adamchuk, L. Hendrickson. 2012. Landscape influences on soil nitrogen supply and water holding capacity for irrigated corn. . In: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Precision Agriculture, International Society of Precision Agriculture, July 15-18, 2012, Indianapolis, IN. (CD publication).
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